Boxscore

Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Blue Hen junior guard Jawan Carter (at right) scored a career-high 35 points while Alphonso Dawson added 28 as the University of Delaware men’s basketball team posted a thrilling 97-94 double overtime win over the University of Pennsylvania Saturday night at The Palestra.

Carter connected on 19 of his school-record 26 free throw attempts and also went 4 of 10 from the three-point line as Delaware improved to 1-2 on the season. Dawson tied his career-high with 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including a 5 of 7 performance from behind the arc.

Kelvin McNeil grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for the Blue Hens, while D.J. Boney contributed 12 points off the bench.

Zack Rosen scored 25 points to lead the Quakers, who fell to 0-3 on the season. Jack Eggleston added 19 points for Penn, while Darren Smith added 17 and Mike Howlett posted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Penn jumped out to a 26-8 lead eight minutes into the game, but the Blue Hens eventually whittled its deficit to 50-40 at the half.

UD trailed by as many as 15 points at 67-52 with 11:50 to play, and the Hens were still down 75-66 with 6:16 on the clock. However Delaware used an 8-2 run to pull within 77-74 on a layup by Boney at the 4:34 mark, before a three-pointer by Eggleston made it a six-point game.

But Carter drained a three-pointer with 2:31 left, and Boney tied the game with a triple from the right wing with 44 seconds to play. Rosen converted a driving layup with 12 seconds to go, but after Carter missed a three-pointer, Hakim McCullar tipped in the rebound at the buzzer to force overtime.

Penn went ahead 87-83 with 1:45 to play in the first overtime period, but Carter hit two free throws with 51 seconds to play and Boney added two more with seven seconds to go to force the second overtime period.

Smith hit a free throw with 1:08 left in the second extra session to put the Quakers up 93-92, but Carter found Malcolm Hawkins for a layup to put Delaware ahead for good, 94-93, with 56 seconds to go.

Following a traveling violation on Howlett, Carter was fouled and hit one free throw. Smith then drained one free throw to pull the Quakers within 95-94 with 17 seconds left, and Carter answered by hitting one of two from the charity stripe with 16 seconds to go.

Eggleston then drove the right side but Boney stepped in to take the charge, and after a Penn foul, Edwin Santiago hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game.
Malcolm Washington then missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Blue Hens their first double overtime win since an 81-74 triumph over Old Dominion on January 12, 2008.

The 97 points scored were the most by the Blue Hens since a 110-66 win over Northeastern in the 2001 America East Tournament Semifinals, while Carter’s 35 points were the most by an individual since Harding Nana scored 38 against Towson on January 14, 2006.

The win was also Delaware’s first in 13 tries against Penn at The Palestra.

“I’ve been in so many big games in this building, and this was a typical Big Five game,” said fourth-year UD head coach Monte Ross. “Our guys just fought the entire night and never quit. I was really proud of the guys for just fighting. We’re such a young team and we are going to grow from this experience.”

Delaware returns to action on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game at Siena.