Painter Ties Career-High in Blue Hens’ 80-77 Win Over Elon

Saturday, January 22

Newark, DE

1:00 PM

University of Delaware

14-6,5-2CAA

Elon

5-15,2-5CAA

Elon

Delaware

Photo by: Jeff Fannon

Painter Ties Career-High in Blue Hens’ 80-77 Win Over Elon

1/22/2022 4:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – Dylan Painter tied his career-high with 23 points and added 12 rebounds to post his sixth double-double of the season as Delaware won its third straight game by holding off Elon, 80-77, Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Painter finished 6 of 9 from the field and knocked down 11 of 12 free throw attempts for the Blue Hens, who shot 52.1 percent from the floor and went 23 of 29 from the foul line. Ryan Allen added 13 points on the day, Kevin Anderson contributed 11 points and five assists, and Ebby Asamoah chipped in 10 points and six boards.

Torrance Watson paced Elon with 20 points, while Michael Graham added a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Blue Hens led by a pair midway through the opening half before going on a 10-point run, taking a 27-15 advantage on consecutive three-pointers by Allen and Asamoah.

A Gianmarco Arletti triple increased the margin to 41-23, and after the Phoenix answered with a nine-point spurt, Painter converted a three-point play to give Delaware a 44-32 cushion at the half.

The Blue Hens quickly scored the first six points of the second half to go back up 18, although Elon countered with eight consecutive points of its own to close within 50-40 with 16:20 remaining.

The Phoenix cut the gap to single digits at 61-52 halfway through the period, but Painter hit two free throws and Jameer Nelson Jr. added a layup to push the margin back to 13, and UD led comfortably until the final two minutes. Elon then connected on six foul shots to pull within five, while a three-pointer by Watson made it a 78-75 game with 11 seconds on the clock.

Anderson was then fouled and hit two free throws to seal the win, before Elon's Darius Burford added a bucket just before the final horn.

Martin Ingelsby
"We need to figure out how to stay focused with the lead, but we found a way to get it done. This was a good team effort, and we got solid contributions from our bench. Dylan Painter is such a huge factor on both ends of the court, and we need to play through him when we get a lead. We did enough to get it done, and I feel like we're hitting our stride, especially on the offensive end."

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