NEWARK, DE -- Marist spoiled the head coaching debut of University of Delaware’s Monté Ross Tuesday night as the hot-shooting Red Foxes pulled away in the final seven minutes and posted a 78-62 men’s basketball victory over the Blue Hens at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Marist (1-1) connected on 54 percent of its shots from the field, drained 8 of 20 three-pointers, and placed four scorers in double figures on the way to downing Delaware (0-1) for the second straight season.

Will Whittington scored a team-high 20 points, Jared Jordan dished out seven assists and added 17 points, including the 1,000th point of his career, James Smith tallied 15 points and pulled a game-high 10 rebounds, and Ryan Stilphen chipped in with 15 points to lead the balanced effort.

Delaware, coming off consecutive 20-loss seasons for the first time in school history and picked last in the pre-season Colonial Athletic Association poll, battled tough all night but could not overcome a tough shooting performance that saw the Hens convert just 24 of 63 shots from the field (.38.1 percent) and miss their first 17 three-point attempts.

The Hens, who fell to 12-3 all-time in BCC openers, finished by hitting just 2 of 21 shots from beyond the arc.

The Blue Hens were led by junior forward Herb Courtney who scored a career-high 27 points, pulled four rebounds, and blocked four shots. Freshman Darrell Johnson added 18 points in his collegiate debut while fellow rookie Brian Johnson added seven points and five assists. Delaware committed just nine turnovers for the game.

A hard-fought first half saw three ties and four lead changes with no lead bigger than five the entire stanza. Courtney hit a jumper with 57 seconds left in the half to cut the Red Fox lead to 31-30 but Marist took a 34-30 lead into the half when Whittington nailed a three-pointer with 39 seconds remaining before intermission.

Marist led the entire second half but never pulled away until the final seven minutes. Delaware pulled to within four points at 56-52 with 7:38 left on a fastbreak layup by Zaire Taylor, but Marist answered with a decisive 9-1 that included two baskets by Stilphen and a three-pointer by Shae McNamara.

Delaware was held without a field goal for over five minutes before a Brian Johnson jumper with 2:15 left cut the lead to 68-56. Marist outscored the Blue Hens 12-2 during the ran as Delaware missed six straight shots during the drought.

Ross (at right) was making his collegiate head coaching debut after serving the last 10 years as an assistant under Phil Martelli at Saint Joseph’s where he helped lead the Hawks to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet 16 and one to the Elite Eight. His debut came against Marist head coach Matt Brady, a former fellow assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s. Ross will look for his first win this Friday, Nov. 17 when the Hens travel to the University at Albany.

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