Boxscore
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware backcourt trio of Jawan Carter (top right), Alphonso Dawson (bottom right), and Brian Johnson led the way as Carter netted a game-high 18 points, Dawson contributed 15, and Johnson scored 10 and dished out eight assists to lead the Blue Hens to a 60-48 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball victory over Georgia State Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

The Hens (9-12, 3-6 CAA) scored the last three points of the first half to pull to within 27-20 at the break and then scored the first 13 of the second stanza as part of a pivotal 16-0 run that put them up for good.

Delaware, which shot a much-improved 48 percent from the field in the second half and committed just two turnovers during the stanza, won its second straight home game and remained unbeaten at 4-0 in home Saturday games this season.

Georgia State (5-15, 3-6 CAA), which lost its fifth straight road game, has now lost six of its last seven games. The Panthers got 15 points off the bench from Dante Curry and Trey Hampton added 10 points but Georgia State shot just 31 percent from the field in the second half.

"This was a terrific effort by our guys, especially with a short bench," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross, who was without key backup D.J. Boney as well as walk-on Brian Young who were both out with the flu. "We did a real good job defensively and took care of the basketball in the second half. We made them face our halfcourt defense the entire period, which was big for us."

Carter, who has reached double figures in scoring in but three games this year, scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and also added four three-pointers and four assists in a complete effort.

Dawson added 15 points and pulled five rebounds, Johnson added 10 points and dished out eight assists for the second straight game, Marc Egerson pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, and Edwin Santiago chipped in with eight points off the bench.

The Blue Hens held Georgia State to just 21 second half points as the Panthers connected on just 8 of 26 shots from the field in the second stanza. The 48 points matched the lowest total of the season for Georgia State and was the least allowed by the Blue Hens since a 51-48 win over Georgia State last season in Atlanta.

Georgia State’s top three scorers, Joe Dukes (13.3 ppg), Trae Goldston (11.0 ppg), and Leonard Mendez (8.9 ppg) were held to a combined 11 points.

Both teams came out sluggish in the first half with the Hens converting just 7 of 22 shots from the field and committing 11 turnovers. Georgia State took over the lead at the half thanks to a flurry in the final four minutes that saw the Panthers break a 17-17 tie by scoring 10 straight points, including four points from Hampton. A three-pointer by Delaware’s Carter with 23 seconds left cut the Georgia State halftime lead to 27-20.

Delaware came out inspired in the second half as the Hens dominated the first four minutes by scoring the first 13 points of the stanza to take a 33-27 lead and stayed in front the rest of the way.

Carter knocked down three three-pointers during the stretch, that last at the 15:52 mark that put the Hens up 33-27. Georgia State missed on all six of its shots from the field and turned the ball over twice in its first eight possessions of the half and didn’t score until a layup by Ousman Krubally at the 14:49 mark.

Georgia State pulled to within one point twice over the next four minutes and trailed just 40-38 on a three-pointer by Kevin Lott with 8:11 left but never got closer. Ledsome followed with a dunk, Santiago added a layup, and Dawson converted a three-point play as part of a 7-2 run that upped the Delaware lead to 49-40 with 5:07 remaining.

Curry knocked down a three-pointer with 4:46 left to narrow the gap to 49-43, but Carter and Dawson responded with consecutive three-pointers of their own to shut the door and send the Hens to the win.