DETROIT -- It was a back-and-forth that was worthy of a prize fight.
For a 2 ½-minute stretch in the second half, every basket swung the lead. Eight straight trips, eight straight lead changes.
Chase Simon, the Detroit Titans’ senior leader, had caught fire earlier in the half and was now commanding double-team coverage.
He dribbled hard once to his right, hesitated for just a moment, then blew by his defender. The defense collapsed on the slashing Simon as he crossed the free-throw line.
As he glanced up, he saw LaMarcus Lowe kick out on the baseline. Simon swung the ball to Lowe, whose defender had crashed the lane to stop the drive, and Lowe delivered on an 18-foot jumper to put the Titans up 66-65. Nine straight trips, nine straight lead changes.
That basket, however, would be last one the Titans sank while trailing.
With a great all-around effort, especially from their senior leaders, the Titans edged Green Bay, 77-74, at Calihan Hall on Sunday, in the pulse-pounding manner that has recently become their M.O.
It's almost as if the Titans enjoy spotting visiting teams a double-digit lead. After all, it enhances the cinematic quality of the game.
Like their Friday game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Detroit trailed by 12 early in the second half, by as many as 11 with 13:25 to go, but that is where the weekend similarities stop.
They took their first second-half lead with a little more than 7 minutes to play and took the lead for good on the Lowe jumper with 4:58 left in the game.
The Titans put together one of their most complete performances of 2012, and they did so in front of one of the more emphatic crowds of the season.
Simon led the way with 24 points, which was a needed boost for the TItans in the final home game of their conference schedule. (They play James Madison in a non-conference game on Feb. 18.)
"I thought that Chase was in the zone today," Titans head coach Ray McCallum said. "He just made baskets, played both ends of the floor and competed at a high, high level."
They have received limited production from their traditionally trigger-happy senior as of late, who had scored just a combined 27 points in his last four games.
"I had the size advantage on (Steve) Baker, and my teammates ran a couple plays for me inside where I was able to shoot over him," Simon said.
The Titans did a great job taking advantage of mismatches throughout the second half, as well as feeding the hot player.
Simon had seven straight points midway through the second half to close the Titans’ deficit to three.
Following Simon's outburst, the Titans seemed to take on that slug-it-out boxer’s mentality for a few minutes, trading baskets with Green Bay, before returning to the hot-hand approach.
But the second time around, it wasn’t Simon. Or Ray McCallum Jr. Or Eil Holman.
It was Lowe.
"The coach is always preaching us to get to the open area, so I just sunk to the level of the ball," Lowe said. "I just wanted to put myself in the best position for my teammates to get me the ball."
After sinking the go-ahead jumper, Lowe took off, scoring seven points on the next three trips down the floor, including a gorgeous lay-up-and-the-foul set up by McCallum.
“LaMarcus kind of took over the game,” coach McCallum said. “He got in some foul trouble early, maybe because he got excited about playing (Alec) Brown, and uncharacteristically he was leaving his feet.
“But he settled down and then did a really great job.”
And while it may not be preferred style of victory, the Titans have now won three straight and eight of their last 10,heading into the home stretch of conference play. They will face Cleveland St., Wright St. and Youngstown St. all on the road.
NOTES: McCallum, the team’s leading scorer, had one his most complete efforts of the season, tallying 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and four steals. … Holman put together another solid game, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, and grabbing eight rebounds.
