University of Delaware Athletics

Comeback Effort Falls Short as Delaware Drops 84-81 Tilt at Robert Morris
12/22/2014 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
• Boxscore
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The University of Delaware men's basketball team trailed Robert Morris by 12 points with 1:21 remaining before pulling within three, but the Blue Hens could not complete the comeback as they dropped an 84-81 non-conference verdict to the Colonials Monday night at the Sewall Center.
Delaware, which fell to 0-10 on the season, was down 76-64 but scored nine points in the next 27 seconds to close within 78-73 with 54 seconds on the clock. Robert Morris pushed the lead back to seven before Chivarsky Corbett converted a four-point play, making it an 82-79 game with 25 seconds to play.
However the Colonials' Marcquise Reed hit one free throw, and following a Blue Hen turnover, Rodney Pryor added one from the stripe with eight seconds to play, before Eric Carter scored at the buzzer to close the scoring.
Corbett finished with a career-high 21 points, knocking down three triples and hitting 8 of 9 foul shots for the Blue Hens, who never led in the contest. Maurice Jeffers also set his career-high with 16 points, while Barnett Harris tied his career-best with eight rebounds.
Kyle Anderson also scored 16 points, becoming the 32nd player in UD history to surpass the 1,000-point mark. Anderson also buried four three-pointers, passing Jawan Carter to move into second place on the UD career three-pointers chart.
Reed scored 20 points for Robert Morris, which improved to 4-7 on the campaign. Pryor contributed 19 points while Lucky Jones chipped in with 15 for the Colonials, who shot 55.6 percent for the game.
“We were hoping to have a lot of energy and effort tonight, but it just wasn't there,” said Blue Hen head coach Monté Ross. “We wanted to have a strong 40-minute effort, but we just didn't have it tonight. We will take a little break and hope to get back on track.”
Robert Morris connected on its first six shots from the field, jumping out to an 11-2 lead two minutes into the game and forcing an early Delaware time out. The Colonials were still up nine late in the half, before Anderson buried a three-pointer to make it a 36-30 game at the break.
The Blue Hens were still down only three at 47-44 following a Jeffers free throw, but the Colonials scored the next nine points to go in front by 12 with 11:08 to play. The margin eventually grew to 16 before UD exploded for an 11-0 spurt, closing within 65-60 with 4:24 remaining on a Harris tip-in.
But Robert Morris eventually extended the margin back to double figures, before holding off the late Delaware run to post the victory.
The Blue Hens will take the next eight days off before hosting St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. in their final non-league game of the season.
Game Notes:
• Delaware's 0-10 start is the second worst in school history, behind the 1929-30 squad which opened 0-12
• Anderson has now made 223 three-pointers, five shy of the UD record of 228 held by Mike Ames
• Delaware attempted a season-high 31 three-pointers
• The Blue Hens held a 38-33 rebounding margin
• Kory Holden returned from a hamstring injury to dish out a season-high seven assists
• Robert Morris improved to 2-1 all-time vs. Delaware