TOWSON, MD – Host Towson scored the first 13 points of the game and led by as much as 34 points in the second half on the way to an 85-63 Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball victory over the University of Delaware Wednesday night at the Towson Center.

Towson guard Gary Neal, the nation’s fifth leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, connected for 36 points behind six three-pointers and forward Dennard Abraham added 17 points to lead the Tigers, who improved to 10-10 (4-5 CAA).

Neal posted his seventh game with 30 or more points this season and surpassed the 2,000 career-point mark for his career. Guard C.C. Williams tied a Towson record with 13 assists and Rodney Spruill contributed 10 points off the bench for the Tigers.

Delaware (3-17, 1-8 CAA), which lost its third straight game, got 19 points and 10 rebounds from forward Herb Courtney (at right) while Sam McMahon added 14 points, Calvin Cannon added 10 points, and Brian Johnson dished out seven assists. Courtney posted his fifth double-double of the season. The Hens shot 47.6 percent from the field for the game (20 of 42) but were outrebounded 29-24 and were hurt by 15 turnovers.

“We talked before the game about having a good start, but we just couldn’t overcome it,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “To see the way we started out is disheartening. We have to raise our basketball IQ. We have to live on our defense but sometimes when we’re not having success on offense, our guys get down and lose concentration on defense. We always have to play defense no matter what.”

Towson shot an impressive 55.9 percent from the field for the game (33 of 59) and converted 13 of 26 three-point attempts. The Tigers hit on 18 of 31 first half shots (58.1 percent) and 15 of 28 in the second half (53.6 percent) to win going away. Towson swept the season series from Delaware for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

Towson jumped out to a 13-0 lead and held Delaware scoreless for the first six minutes of the game and never looked back. The Tigers extended their lead to 44-21 at the half.

The Blue Hens fared no better in the second half as Towson opened the stanza on an 11-2 run to up the lead to 32 points at 55-23 in the first three minutes. Delaware never got closer than 20 points the entire second half with Towson upping the lead to as much as 34 points at 78-44 with 5:46 left to play.

Delaware, which fell to 1-9 on the road this season, is now 0-5 in road CAA games with all five losses by 15 or more points.

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