Boxscore

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Joe Dukes scored all but two of his game-high 18 points in the second half as the Georgia State men’s basketball team rallied from a nine-point deficit to post a 70-67 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Blue Hens Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.

The Panthers, who improved to 7-17 overall and 5-8 in the conference, also got 13 points off the bench from Dante Curry while Trae Goldston added 12 points and Rashad Chase chipped in 11.

Delaware, which fell to 10-15 overall and 4-9 in league play, dropped to 0-7 in CAA road games and lost its sixth consecutive game away from Newark. Jawan Carter (at right) led the Blue Hens with 17 points, while Marc Egerson added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jim Ledsome and Brian Johnson each scored 11 points for Delaware, while D.J. Boney contributed 10 off the bench.

Delaware, which defeated the Panthers 60-48 on January 24 at the Bob Carpenter Center, erased an early eight-point deficit and took a 37-30 advantage into the half. UD went up nine after a pair of free throws by Ledsome to open the second period, but a three-pointer by Curry and a basket by Kevin Lott cut the Blue Hens lead to 39-35 with 16:38 left

However a three-pointer by Egerson extended the Delaware advantage to 45-37 with 14:30 to play, and a trey by Boney put the Blue Hens up 51-42 at the 12:45 mark. UD was still ahead 58-51 after a Carter layup, but Curry hit his third three-pointer of the half and Xavier Hansbro converted a layup to bring the Panthers within 58-56 with 6:25 to play.

Egerson hit two free throws for Delaware, but Curry and Dukes each converted layups to tie game at 60-60 with 4:49 on the clock.Carter answered with a driving layup to put UD back up two, but Dukes countered to knot the contest at 62-62 with 3:55 to play.

Egerson then scored on a driving layup, but Dukes responded with a jumper and later added two free throws to give Georgia State its first lead of the second half at 66-64 with 1:40 remaining. Chase then intercepted a pass from Ledsome and converted at other end to put the Panthers ahead by four, but Johnson answered with a layup for Delaware, pulling the Blue Hens within 68-66 with 46.9 seconds left

Following a Georgia State timeout, Dukes hit an off-balance jumper in lane to put the Panthers back up four at 70-66 with 15 seconds to go. Egerson was then fouled with nine seconds on the clock, and after he hit his first free throw attempt, he missed the second. Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound, but he missed the layup and Lott grabbed the rebound for the Panthers.

Following a foul Curry missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1.8 seconds left, but Egerson’s desperation three-point attempt from over half court was off the mark.

“Defensively we could not get stops late in the game, and that’s very disconcerting,” Delaware head coach Monté Ross said. “I thought our defense in the first half was very good, but in the second it just wasn’t there. We got some good contributions off the bench, but allowing a team to shoot 60 percent in the second half just isn’t going to get it done on the road.”

Georgia State, which improved to just 4-8 at home this season and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Blue Hens, jumped out to an 18-10 lead seven minutes into the game. However Carter hit three consecutive three-pointers to put Delaware up 27-23 with 9:06 to play. The Blue Hens would gradually extend their lead, and a layup by Carter in the final minute gave UD a seven-point advantage going into the break

Delaware shot a season-high 52.2 percent from the field, handed out 17 assists and held a 29-27 rebounding advantage. However the Panthers also connected on more than half of their field goal attempts at 51.9 percent, led by Dukes’ 7 of 9 shooting from the floor.

The Blue Hens return home on Thursday to host George Mason at the Carpenter Center at 7 p.m. in a contest that will be televised live by ESPNU.