NEWARK, DE -- Undermanned University of Delaware held tight with Towson the entire evening, but couldn’t keep up with a record shooting performance by the Tigers and dropped a 75-68 Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball decision Monday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delaware led by four at halftime, but Towson scored the first 10 points of the second half to grab the lead and set a Bob Carpenter Center record by shooting 62.5 percent from the field to post the victory, just its fourth in 17 visits all-time to the BCC.

The Blue Hens (2-13, 0-4 CAA), who returned home for the first time since Dec. 3 after an eight-game road swing, got a career-high 29 points and nine rebounds from junior forward Herb Courtney (at right; photo by Bob Burleigh), but lost for the fourth straight outing and tied the school record for consecutive home losses of seven set back in 1964-65. Courtney, who scored 20 of his points in the first half, hit on 8 of 14 shots from the field and 11 of 14 from the line to reach the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season.

Junior forward Sam McMahon added 12 points and senior guard Calvin Cannon chipped in with 11 for the Hens, who dressed just eight players after starting sophomore guard Zaire Taylor announced prior to the game that he was taking a leave of absence from the team for an indefinite period. Delaware shot 43.8 percent from the field (21 of 48) and committed just nine turnovers.

Towson (7-7, 2-2 CAA), which was coming off back-to-back double overtime losses, connected on 25 of 40 shots from the field for a percentage of .625, breaking the building record of .621 set by Hartford against New Hampshire during the 2000 America East conference tournament. The Tigers also hit 5 of 12 three-pointers, connected on 20 of 23 free throws, and held a 30-18 advantage on the boards.

Senior guard Gary Neal, who entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in scoring at 24.5 points per game, netted a team-high 27 points and got big supporting efforts from forward Dennard Abraham, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and from junior forward Tommy Breaux, who contributed 10 points. Towson shot 12 of 19 from the field in the first half (.632) and 13 of 21 (.619) in the second stanza.

“The first four minutes of the second half really hurt us,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross, whose team matched its season-high for first half points on the way to a 37-33 halftime lead. “We are not a good enough team to get into a shootout with teams. The key for us will be to maintain this type of effort on the road.”

Delaware came out strong, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes before Neal scored six straight for the Tigers to tie the game at 10-10. But the Hens scored the next eight points, including back-to-back three-pointers by Courtney and McMahon, to take the lead and stayed in front the rest of the stanza for a 37-33 advantage at intermission.

But the Tigers started out fast in the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the stanza to take a 43-37 lead two minutes in. Towson upped the lead to 51-44 on a dunk by Breaux with 15:20 left, but the Hens rallied as Cannon hit three straight three-pointers in a span of 1:38 to tie the game at 53-53 with 12:57 left. Towson held a slim lead for the next seven minutes before Courtney hit two free throws with 5:44 remaining to give the Hens their final lead at 63-62.

Abraham followed with a layup seconds later to give Towson the lead for good at 64-63 and two Neal free throws and a basket by C.C. Williams extended the lead to 70-65 with 3:11 left. Delaware cut the margin to 70-67 on two Brian Johnson free throws with 1:51 left, but Neal followed with a jumper and added two free throws with 24 seconds left to ice the win. Delaware managed just one field goal over the final 9:22.

Boxscore