Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, DE -- The University of Delaware let a 10-point second half lead slip away and missed on several opportunities in the closing minutes to take it back as the Blue Hens dropped a 54-53 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball decision to Georgia State Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Georgia State (5-14, 2-7 CAA), which snapped both a six-game losing streak and a six game road losing streak, got a game-high 19 points from guard Leonard Mendez to pull out the victory.

Delaware (9-10, 6-3 CAA), which shot just 35.2 percent from the field for the game and connected on just 8 of 25 three-pointers, got 12 points from junior guard Marc Egerson (at right) and 11 each from freshman guard Alphonso Dawson and sophomore point guard Brian Johnson.

"In the first half we played pretty well defensively," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. "But in the second half, when we started making shots, we weren't sharp on the defensive end. We missed some free throws down the stretch that we normally make which also hurt us. This really is a rough and tumble league and there aren't any easy games."

Leading scorer Herb Courtney pulled a game-high seven rebounds for the Hens but was held to just five points, nine below his averge, on just 2 of 10 shooting from the field.

The Hens, who returned home from a three-game road swing, had a five-game home winning streak snapped as the Panthers won at the BCC for the second straight time.

Delaware, which trailed by as much as seven points in the first half, slimmed the margin to 22-20 at halftime and came out strong in the second stanza to take a 10-point lead at 38-28 on a Courtney three-pointer with 14:08 remaining.

But the Panthers regained the lead with a 16-2 run over the next eight minutes as Delaware misfired on 8 of its next 9 shots. A three-pointer by the Hens' D.J. Boney with 6:18 left ended the drought and cut the lead to 44-43.

Delaware's Dawson and GSU's Mendez traded three-pointers and the Hens took their last lead at 48-47 on a Ledsome putback with 4:19 left. Georgia State came right back 23 seconds later to take the lead for good on a layup by D.J. Jones.

The Hens could never regain the lead as they turned the ball over twice, misfired on three straight three-point attempts, and Egerson missed the front end of a one and one foul opportunity twice the rest of the way. Georgia State clinched the win as Deven Dickerson hit two free throws with 49 seconds left and Mendez hit one with 12 seconds remaining.

A three-pointer by Delaware's Johnson just before the final buzzer was too little too late for the Hens.

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