Photo Courtesy or Mark Campbell

Boxscore

HAMPTON, Va. -- Blue Hen sophomore guard Jawan Carter (at right) scored all but two of his game-high 23 points in the second half to lead the University of Delaware men’s basketball team to a 75-66 victory over Hampton Tuesday night at the HU Convocation Center.

Alphonso Dawson added 21 points for the Blue Hens, who snapped a four-game losing streak while improving to 3-6 on the season. Brian Johnson had 14 points and six assists for Delaware, while Marc Egerson contributed 10 points and Jim Ledsome grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.

Christopher Tolson scored a team-high 18 points for the Pirates, who dropped to 5-4 on the season and had their two-game winning streak stopped. Vincent Simpson contributed 15 points while Michael Freeman added 12 for Hampton, which lost for just the third time in its last 15 home games.

Delaware took a 32-27 halftime lead on the strength of 12 first half points by Dawson, and after the Blue Hens extended their advantage to 38-31, Carter converted a three-point play and on the next possession drained a three-pointer to put UD ahead 44-31 with 15:57 remaining.

George DeGroat answered with a basket for Hampton but Carter hit another three-pointer, and after another DeGroat bucket, Carter again connected from long range to make it a 50-35 game with 13:34 to play.

Delaware was still up 52-37, but Hampton scored seven consecutive points to pull within 52-44 with 9:25 left on a Simpson three-pointer. However the Blue Hens exploded for 10 straight points to take largest lead of game at 62-44 with 6:20 remaining. Dawson ignited the spurt with a jumper, and after two Johnson free throws, Ledsome scored on a tip-in. Johnson then scored on a fast break, and Ledsome concluded the run with an all-oop dunk off a Carter feed.

Simpson scored eight consecutive points for the Pirates to pull Hampton within 62-52 with five minutes to play, and after Johnson scored in transition for Delaware, Smalling hit one free throw and Tolson nailed a three-pointer to make it a 64-56 game at the 3:50 mark. But Carter hit two free throws, and after a Simpson basket, Carter drained his fourth three-pointer of half and added two free throws to make it 71-58 with 1:48 remaining.

“We beat a very good team tonight at a time when we really needed a win,” third year Delaware head coach Monté Ross said. “We got the same looks in the first half that we got in the second, we just knocked them down in the second half. Our defensive effort was outstanding; the last two games our defense has really carried us. If we play that type of defense, we have a chance to be pretty good.”

Delaware took an early 11-6 advantage five minutes into the game, but Hampton answered with eight consecutive points to go ahead 14-11 at the 10:04 mark.The Blue Hens regained the lead and were up just 23-22, but UD scored eight consecutive points to take a 31-22 advantage on a three-pointer by Dawson with 2:13 on the clock. However Hampton closed the half on a 5-1 run, with all of the points coming from Freeman, to close within five at the break

Ledsome added seven points, Dawson grabbed eight rebounds, and Egerson had seven rebounds for Delaware, which shot 45.5 percent from the field. UD, which had struggled from the three-point line in each of the last four games, shot 40 percent from behind the arc with an 8 for 20 effort. The Blue Hens held the Pirates to 35.5 percent shooting from the field, its sixth straight opponent to shoot less than 50 percent from the floor.

Delaware returns home Saturday to host Ohio University at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.