NEWARK, DE – The University of Delaware men’s basketball team produced season-highs for points, three-point field goals, and field goal percentage and in the process picked up its first home win and first conference victory of the season with a 77-62 Colonial Athletic Association triumph over William & Mary Saturday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Forward Herb Courtney posted his third double-double of the season as he led four Blue Hen scorers in double figures with 27 points and pulled a game-high 11 rebounds, forward Sam McMahon added 15 points on four of six shooting from the three-point line, guard Calvin Cannon added 14 markers, guard Darrell Johnson contributed 11 points, and guard Brian Johnson dished out a career-high 10 assists to lead a balanced effort for UD team that dresses just eight players.

The Blue Hens (3-14, 1-5 CAA) snapped a five-game losing streak and ended a school-record seven game home losing skein that dated back to last season as they connected on 54.8 percent of theirs shots (23 of 42) for the game and were especially hot from long range, converting a season-high 12 of 25 three-pointers.

William & Mary (10-6, 3-3 CAA), which lost its second straight game after a seven-game winning streak, got 19 points from guard Adam Payton while forward Alex Smith came off the bench to contribute 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Tribe shot just 37.9 percent from the field (22 of 58) and missed their first 15 three-point field goal tries before finishing 2 for 22.

Ironically, Delaware had entered the game ranked last in the CAA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 42 percent while William & Mary entered No. 1 in the league and No. 6 nationally in the category, holding opponents to just 28 percent shooting from long range.

“What I am most proud of is the way our guys followed our game plan and defended William & Mary tonight,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “Human nature is to get down on yourself but our guys just don’t do that. Tonight our shots were going down and when that happens for one guy, it becomes a snowball effect.”

The Blue Hens led virtually the entire game as they broke away from an early 10-10 tie with 13:45 left in the opening stanza by outscoring the Tribe 9-2 over the next six minutes and led the rest of the way. Delaware connected on 9 of 19 first half three-point attempts to take a 38-25 lead into halftime.

William & Mary cut the Delaware lead to seven points at 40-33 on a Payton dunk 1:21 into the second half and trailed 45-36 with 17:10 left, but the Hens followed with a 12-4 run to go up 57-40 with 10:44 left and led by at least 14 points the rest of the way.

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