ATLANTA -- While Colonial Athletic Association newcomer Georgia State University welcomed itself to the league Tuesday night, the University of Delaware men’s basketball was hoping to forget what had just happened.

Energized by a small, but enthusiastic crowd at the GSU Sports Arena, the hot-shooting Panthers had six players score in doubles figures and dismantled Delaware by a 99-72 score.

The Blue Hens (2-2, 0-1 CAA), playing their fourth game in five days after going 2-1 during a weekend visit to the Hispanic College Fund Classic at North Carolina State, suffered their worst loss since a 74-46 setback last December to Auburn in Puerto Rico and suffered their biggest CAA loss since falling to Virginia Commonwealth by an identical 99-72 score Jan. 7, 2004 in Richmond, VA.

Delaware All-American candidate Harding Nana continued his hot play with 23 points and nine rebounds while senior guard Andrew Washington (right) added a season-high 20 points off the bench, scoring 13 of them in the opening stanza, to go with four steals and four assists before being ejected in the final seconds for picking up his second technical foul of\ the game. Calvin Cannon also chipped in with 11 points, four assists, and four
steals for the Hens.

“It was very frustrating tonight for us to give up so many points,” said Delaware head coach David Henderson, who fell to 3-2 in CAA openers. “They shot the ball well but we didn’t contest many of their shots. Andrew Washington really competed for us tonight but we just didn’t have enough other guys matching his intensity.”

Georgia State, in its first CAA season after going 14-15 as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference a year ago, shot 55.6 percent from the field for the game, converting 20 of 36 shots in each half to finish at 40 for 72. The Panthers also hit on 6 of 11 three-pointers and outrebounded the Hens by a 44-30 margin.

Senior guard Boyd Copeland led the way with 18 points and seven assists while senior guard and leading returning scorer Malcolm Manier added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, sophomore forward Justin Billingslea chipped in with 16 points, Deven Dickerson added 14 points seven rebounds, and Herman Favors had 13.

Georgia State used its hot shooting to jump out to a 44-35 halftime lead but the Hens came out strong in the second half as Nana scored nine points over the first three minutes of the second stanza to help cut the lead to 49-44 following an 8-2 run with 17:34 left. That was the closest the Hens would get all night.

The Panthers scored the next five points to extend the lead to 54-44 with 16:21 remaining and still led 62-53 with 12:52 remaining. All hopes for a Blue Hen comeback ended there as Georgia State took off on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to go up 75-55 with 8:17 left.

Delaware will continue their season-opening eight-game road swing this Saturday when the Hens travel to Poughkeepsie, NY to take on Marist at 7:30 p.m.

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