Boxscore

Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell

RICHMOND, Va. -- Delaware shot just 28 percent from the field and went 2 of 21 from three-point range as the Blue Hens fell to Georgia State, 54-41, Friday afternoon in the first round of the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championships at the Richmond Coliseum.

The Blue Hens, who end their season with a 13-19 record, connected on just 14 of 50 field goal attempts while posting their lowest point total since a 60-39 loss at VCU on January 16, 2008. Georgia State, which improved to 12-19, shot just 35.2 percent but still advanced to face top-seeded VCU in the CAA Quarterfinals Saturday at 12 noon.

First Team All-CAA selection Marc Egerson scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Delaware in his final career game as a Blue Hen, but went just 2 of 11 from the field. Alphonso Dawson (at right) contributed 11 points and six boards, while Jim Ledsome had six points and nine rebounds.

Joe Dukes, a third team all-conference selection, posted his second career double-double for the Panthers with 15 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds, while Rashad Chase added seven points and 13 boards. Leonard Mendez, who was held scoreless during both regular season games against Delaware, was the third Georgia State player in double figures with 12 points.

The Blue Hens and Panthers, who split a pair of regular season meetings this season, struggled to put the ball in the basket early in the game, and a jumper by Dawson cut the Georgia State lead to 13-12 at the 7:59 mark of the opening period. However the Blue Hens went scoreless for the next four and a half minutes, as the Panthers scored six consecutive points to go up 19-12 with 5:21 to play following two free throws by Chase.

Jim Ledsome finally broke the UD drought with a layup at the 3:16 mark, and after an offensive rebound by Egerson, Jawan Carter scored on a driving layup to make it a three-point game. Dante Curry answered with a three-pointer for the Panthers, but Egerson hit two free throws to bring UD within 22-18 at the half. Delaware’s 18 first half points were its lowest first half output since the Blue Hens managed 14 first half points at Old Dominion on December 6.

Two free throws by Egerson early in the second period made it a 27-24 Georgia State advantage, but the Panthers scored the next 10 points while holding the Blue Hens scoreless for over five minutes as GSU went on top 37-24 on a Chase layup with 12:06 remaining.

The Blue Hens would make a run, scoring seven consecutive points to pull within six. Edwin Santiago opened the spurt with a jumper in the lane, and after Egerson drained a three-pointer from the right corner, Brian Johnson followed with a driving layup to make it a 37-31 game and force a Panthers timeout with 9:14 to play.

But Mendez answered with layup and Chase hit a free throw to put Georgia State up nine at the 6:48 mark, and after a Ledsome dunk, baskets by Trae Goldston and Trey Hampton put the Panthers back ahead by double digits at 44-33 with 5:30 on the clock.

Dawson answered with two free throws for the Blue Hens with 5:17 to go, but Dukes countered with two free throws of his own at the 4:01 mark and the Panthers led by double figures the rest of the way.

“I’m not surprised that we struggled shooting the ball early, but we never really settled in offensively,” said Delaware third-year head coach Monté Ross. “I was a bit surprised that we didn’t shoot well the entire game, because we’ve been in a pretty good groove shooting the ball lately. I can’t fault our effort defensively today; we asked our guys to play solid defense, and they did that.”

Georgia State, which has now won five of its last six games, held a 45-34 rebounding advantage and grabbed 12 offensive boards.