NORFOLK, VA – The University of Delaware men’s basketball squad suffered its worst loss of the season Wednesday night as host Old Dominion built a 16-point halftime lead and scored the first 13 points of the second half to run away with an 83-48 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Blue Hens at the Constant Convocation Center.

Delaware, competing with just seven scholarship players, dropped its fifth straight game and remained winless in CAA play at 2-14, 0-5 CAA. The Hens have now lost to the Monarchs five straight times and lost in Norfolk for the third straight time. Old Dominion improved to 11-5 (4-1 CAA) with its second win in the last three games.

The Hens, who have started 0-5 in league play for the second straight season, suffered their worst loss of the season and their most lopsided margin since falling to Purdue 95-56 in the the NCAA Tournament March 13, 1998. The loss was Delaware’s worst in conference play since a 107-70 Middle Atlantic Conference setback to Lafayette Jan. 17, 1966.

Delaware junior Sam McMahon (at right) posted his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds while Calvin Cannon added 10 points. Leading scorer Herb Courtney was limited to just nine points, snapping his streak of eight straight double-figure scoring efforts.

Arnaud Dahi led the Monarchs with 17 points and seven rebounds while Valdas Vasylius and Brandon Johnson each chipped in with 10 point apiece. Old Dominion shot 55.7 percent from the field (34 of 61) for the game and held a 42-29 rebound advantage.

The Hens shot a season-low 28.6 percent from the field (16 of 56), including just of 5 of 22 from the three-point line, and managed to hit just 5 of 31 second half shots. Delaware went nine minutes before hitting its first field goal in the second stanza.

“I told our team that I thought they played very hard, but this shows the separation between us and the elite in this league,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “We caught them a little by surprise early, but they responded and we had no answers. This speaks volumes of the talent level of Old Dominion.”

Delaware used an early 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead in the first five minutes, but Old Dominion answered with a 25-4 run of their own to take a 30-16 lead with 8:30 left. The Monarchs extended the lead to 44-28 at the break and used the 13-0 run to open the second half to up the lead to 57-28. ODU led by at least 30 points for most of the final 10 minutes.

Delaware will look to earn its first conference win of the season Saturday when the Hens host William & Mary at 7 p.m.

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