PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Delaware men’s basketball team led the entire game and held off a late rally by La Salle to post a 58-56 win over the Explorers Friday night at Tom Gola Arena on the second day of the La Salle Invitational.

Herb Courtney scored a team-high 14 points for the Blue Hens, who have won two straight games after opening the season with nine consecutive losses. Freshman Darrell Johnson, who scored 12 points, and Brian Johnson (at right), who added 11 points and four assists, each hit key free throws in the final seconds to lead Delaware to its first win over La Salle in Philadelphia in 10 tries.

La Salle, which fell to 6-5 and dropped its third straight game, got 14 points from Darnell Harris while Yves Mekongo Mbala and Brian Grimes each added eight.

Delaware, which defeated the Explorers for just the third time in 22 all-time meetings, led 37-25 at the half before La Salle closed to within 37-32 with 17:04 remaining. However the Hens answered with a 12-5 run, and a three-pointer by Darrell Johnson gave Delaware a 49-37 advantage with 10:27 remaining.

La Salle then scored nine of the next 11 points to pull within 51-46 with 6:02 left on a layup by Rodney Green, but Brian Johnson converted a layup and Zaire Taylor followed his own miss with a bucket to make it a 55-46 game with 2:54 left. However after Harris nailed a three-pointer, Mike St. John scored on a tip-in and Harris drained another three-pointer to cut the Delaware lead to 55-54 with 49 seconds to go.

Brian Johnson then hit two free throws with 19 seconds to play, but Ruben Guillandeaux scored on a layup to bring the Explorers within 57-56 with 10 seconds remaining. Darrell Johnson was then fouled with nine seconds to go, and after he hit the first free throw but missed the second, Guillandeaux missed a jumper from 10 feet away as time expired.

“Our defense has really carried us these last two games,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross, who earned his first win Thursday in Delaware’s 71-53 victory over Niagara. “We knew La Salle would make a run and they did, but we relied on our defense to get a stop when we really needed one. We did a great job of making them take difficult shots. I can’t say enough about our effort tonight, and I’m really proud of the team.”

For the second straight game Delaware jumped out to a 9-2 lead, and the Blue Hens extended their advantage to 23-11 when Taylor, who finished with nine points, hit a three-pointer with 7:42 left in the opening half.

After La Salle cut the lead to 25-16, Delaware went on a 10-2 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 35-18 with 3:51 on the clock. However the Explorers closed the half on a 7-2 run to pull within 12 at the break.

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