Boxscore

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Jawan Carter (at right) scored 30 points and had a key steal in the final minute of regulation to lead the University of Delaware men's basketball team to an 88-83 overtime victory over Marist Sunday afternoon at Rutgers University's Louis Brown Athletic Center in the final game of the Garden State Challenge.

Delaware, which won its second straight game to improve to 2-2 on the season, trailed the Red Foxes 72-70 in the final minute, but Carter stole the ball from Marist’s Ryan Schneider near midcourt and fed Alphonso Dawson for a layup to tie the game with 34 seconds on the clock. The Red Foxes then missed two baseline jumpers in the final seconds, forcing overtime.

The Blue Hens led 76-75 in the extra session before Marc Egerson drained two free throws with 2:23 to play, and after a few empty possessions by both teams, D.J. Boney drained a three-pointer from the wing to put Delaware up 81-75 with 47 seconds on the clock. Carter then his all six of his free throw attempts down the stretch as the Blue Hens held on for the victory.

Carter finished 5 of 12 from the field, drained four three-pointers and went 16 of 18 from the free throw line as he became the first Blue Hen to reach the 30-point plateau since Zaire Taylor scored 30 against Loyola (Md.) on November 29, 2006. Dawson finished with 25 points, his third 20-point game of the season, while Egerson posted 23 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to record his third double-double of the year.

David Devezin scored 21 points for Marist, which fell to 1-3 on the season, while Schneider chipped in 17 points and nine rebounds. R.J Hall added 14 points and Korey Bauer had 13 off the bench for the Red Foxes, while Lawrence Williams pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Marist, which had defeated Delaware in each of the last three seasons, took a six-point lead into the half, and a three-pointer by Dejuan Goodwin increased the Red Foxes advantage to 36-29 in the first minute of the second period. However, Dawson nailed consecutive jumpers and Carter knocked home a three-pointer to pull the Blue Hens even two a half minutes into the stanza. Carter then hit another three-pointer in transition and added two free throws to extend the run to 12-0 and put Delaware up 41-36 with 16:37 to play.

UD still led 43-39 after two free throws by Adam Pegg with 14:49 remaining, but Marist answered with nine straight points to go up 48-43 on a Schneider three-pointer with 12:40 left. Marist was up 54-47 with 11 minutes to play, but Delaware went on an 11-2 spurt, taking a 58-56 lead on a three-pointer by Carter with 8:44 remaining.

The teams were tied at 60 before consecutive three-pointers by Devezin and Javon Parris put the Red Foxes up 66-60 with six and a half minutes to play, and Marist still led 69-64with 4:18 left. But Carter hit three free throws and Dawson converted a three-point play to put the Blue Hens up 70-69 with 3:02 to go in the seesaw affair. The Red Foxes regained the lead at 72-70 on another three-pointer by Parris with 2:24 to play, and the game remained that way until Carter’s steal and Dawson’s layup forced overtime.

“For a relatively young team like we are, to pull out a game like that with a lot of ups and downs is huge,” Delaware third-year head coach Monté Ross said. “It’s important to hit free throws, and we did a great job of that in the second half and overtime. The big difference was that in the second half Brian Johnson was able to play after he had to sit out most of the first half with foul trouble. He really pulled through for us, and we are a totally different team with him on the court.”

Marist used an early 9-2 run to take a 14-6 lead at the 10:51 mark of the first half before Delaware answered with five straight points by Egerson. It was still a 19-13 Red Foxes advantage after a free throw by Dawson, but Marist scored nine of the next 13 points to take its largest lead of the night at 28-17 before Egerson countered with a three-pointer.

Marist still led 30-20, but six straight points by Dawson and a free throw by Egerson cut the Red Foxes lead to 30-27 before Hall hit a three-pointer with five seconds left to make it a six-point game at the break.

The Blue Hens converted 30 of 41 free throw attempts in the game, while Marist was just 8 of 12 from the charity stripe. The Red Foxes, who had three players foul out of the contest, were held to 43.1 percent shooting from the field, the first Blue Hen opponent to shoot less than 50 percent from the floor this season.

Delaware returns home Tuesday to host Vermont at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.