Boxscore

Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware battled George Mason to the wire in a Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball matchup Wednesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center, but the Blue Hens failed to convert on several big scoring opportunities in the final minute and dropped a 61-59 decision in their home season finale.

Delaware junior guard Jawan Carter (at right) led the way for UD with a game-high 25 points, including the 1,000th point of his career, and Edwin Santiago (bottom left) added a spark off the bench with 11 points, but the Hens (7-22, 3-14 CAA) dropped their fifth straight game and fell for the eighth time in the last nine outings.

Alphonso Dawson added 10 points and seven rebounds and Malcolm Hawkins contributed nine points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Hens. Carter, the CAA’s second leading scorer at 18.1 points per game, has now scored in double figures in a league-high 21 straight games, the fifth longest streak in UD history.

The Hens, who clinched last place and the No. 12 seed in next week's CAA Tournament with the loss, will close out the regular season this Saturday, Feb. 27, at Towson. Delaware will open CAA first round play vs. the No. 5 seed on Friday, March 5 at the Richmond (Va.) Coliseum.

“It was a tight game that came down to the last possession,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “We just weren’t able to make enough plays down the stretch to pull it out. We got some really good contributions off the bench tonight and our guys showed that they are resilient. We just had to make one more play but couldn’t get it done.”

George Mason (17-12, 12-5 CAA), which overcome a tough 17 of 32 shooting night from the foul line that almost proved to be its downfall, snapped a three-game losing streak after falling in five of its previous six games. Andre Cornelius hit his first four three-point attempts and scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the opening half to pace the Patriots, who also received 14 points and nine rebounds from Cam Long and 10 points off the bench from Sherrod Wright to complete the season sweep over Delaware. Mason was helped by its 39-31 advantage on the boards and 8 of 18 three-point shooting.

Delaware had several chances to win or send the game into overtime in the final minute but the Hens came up short all three times, including a wild stretch with one minute left when they grabbed the offensive rebound after three straight missed before Alphonso Dawson's misfire from 10 feet was grabbed by Mason's Ryan Pearson.

After Long converted one of two free throws to give Mason a 61-59 lead with 24 seconds left, the Hens had another chance but Carter was short on a deep three-point attempt from the top of the key with eight seconds left to play that would have put the Hens ahead.

The Hens had another shot after Mason's Wright missed two free throws one second later, but Carter slipped and fell to the ground while driving into the lane with one second remaining and turned the ball over. George Mason then inbounded the ball to end the game.

The Blue Hens enjoyed a solid first half in which they led for the final 11 minutes and built the lead to as many as seven points at 24-17 on a layup by Dawson with 7:32 left before heading into intermission up 38-32. The halftime lead was the Hens’ second biggest of the season.

Delaware maintained that lead for the first eight minutes of the second half before Mason’s Wright finished off a 9-0 run with a three-pointer with 11:45 left to give the Patriots at 49-45 advantage.

Mason would hold that lead for the rest of the night, going up by as much as seven points at 54-47 on a two free throws by Wright with 8:20 remaining and still holding a 60-54 lead following a free throw by Luke Hancock at the 2:47 mark.

But Delaware rallied from there as Dawson converted a fastbreak layup with 2:31 left and then fed Santiago for a three-point from the left wing with 1:41 remaining to cut the margin to 60-59. The Hens then missed their final five shots from the field before Carter’s turnover ended the comeback attempt.