University of Delaware Athletics
Hagins Reaches Milestones But Delaware Falls To Towson, 69-66 (Jan. 16, 2013)
1/16/2013 3:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Hagins Hits Two Milestones, but Delaware Winning Streaks Come to an End in 69-66 Setback to Towson
January 16, 2013
File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
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NEWARK, Del. -- Two long winning streaks came to a disheartening end for the University of Delaware Wednesday night as the host Blue Hens let a late six-point lead slip away and dropped a 69-66 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball setback to rival Towson at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Delaware (8-9, 3-1 CAA) lost its first conference game of the season and had a five-game win streak snapped. The Blue Hens' 10-game CAA regular season winning streak that dated back to January of 2012 also came to an abrupt end.
Towson (9-9, 4-1 CAA), which won for the fifth time in the last six games, snapped a personal five-game losing streak to Delaware by rallying from a 61-55 deficit with 3:40 left to play.
“It was a hard-fought game but you have to credit Towson, they made the plays down the stretch and we didn't,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “We were just a bit off tonight and we weren't as sharp as we usually are. We were not happy with our defensive effort in the second half. We normally can get stops, but tonight that didn't happen.”
The loss capped a bittersweet night for Delaware senior forward Jamelle Hagins, who became Delaware's all-time leading rebounder and also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career. Hagins finished with 16 points and eight rebounds and became the 30th person in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
Hagins also upped his career rebounding total to 924, breaking the mark of 916 set by Spencer Dunkley in 1989-93. Dunkley, a member of Delaware's NCAA Tournament teams in 1992 and 1993, was in attendance to see his record broken.
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Devon Saddler added 16 points for the Blue Hens while Jarvis Threatt added 12 points - his seventh straight double-figure scoring effort - and Kyle Anderson dropped in nine points.
Delaware committed just 10 turnovers and knocked down 24 of 27 free throws but the Hens were outrebounded by a 37-30 margin and failed to convert a three-pointer, missing on all eight of their attempts. The Hens had entered the game having hit at least one three-pointer in 675 straight games after being shutout vs. Bucknell on Nov. 28, 1990.
Towson, which won its fourth straight road game, got another big effort from Georgetown transfer Jerrelle Benimon who had game-highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds for his NCAA Division I-leading 12th double-double of the season while also dishing out a game-high five assists.
Rafriel Guthrie added 15 points off the bench for the Tigers while Marcus Damas contributed 13 points and seven rebounds and Bilal Dixon chipped in with 10 points.
The game featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, including seven lead changes in the the second half alone as neither team led by more than six points the final 18 minutes of the contest.
Delaware controlled the opening 20 minutes and led by as much as nine points at 27-18 before a late flurry over the final four minutes helped Towson cut the lead to 29-26 at the break. The Hens came out strong again in the second stanza and built the lead back to seven points at 33-26 before Towson scored 11 straight points and regained the lead at 37-33 with 16:25 left to play.
Neither team led by more than three points for the next 10 minutes before Delaware broke a 53-53 tie with a 6-0 run that featured layups from Hagins and Anderson and two free throws from Saddler for a 59-53 lead with 4:35 remaining.
But Towson chipped away and regained the lead for good at 63-62 on a layup by Damas. A layup by Dixon pushed the Tiger lead to three before two free throws from Hagins cut the margin to 65-64 with 39 seconds left.
Towson's Jerome Hairston answered with two free throws at the 26-second mark and Saddler countered with a layup nine seconds later to pull the Hens to within 67-66.
Delaware appeared to have a chance to take the lead after Saddler stole the ball from Mike Burwell in the backcourt with 10 seconds left. Saddler recovered the loose ball and fed Terrell Rogers, who missed a short jump shot.
Delaware's Marvin King-Davis pulled the offensive rebound but could not convert the layup in close with four seconds left. Damas hauled in the rebound, was fouled, and iced the victory with two free throws.
The Hens will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they host league-leading Northeastern at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
