Career
A 6"5" (196 m) forward-center, Towery played for the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers from 1938 to 1941. He was a two-time All-America selection and the first Hilltopper to score 1,000 points. He also led the Hilltoppers to three Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles.
After graduating, Towery began his professional career with the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons of the National Basketball League.
He played three seasons with the Pistons before entering military service in World World War II, where he earned a Bronze Star as an infantryman. He then returned to the Pistons in 1946, and remained with the team as they joined the Basketball Association of America (the modern National Basketball Association) in 1948.
Towery spent half a season with the Pistons in the Bachelor of Applied Arts, and later served stints for the Indianapolis Jets and Baltimore Bullets. When he retired from basketball in 1950, he had scored 2,317 combined NBL/National Basketball Association points.
In 2003, Western Kentucky University retired his #42 college jersey.
He became the sixth Hilltopper to receive such honors. Towery died on November 25, 2012 at the age of 92.