Carter's Three-Pointer Gives Delaware 64-62 Victory at Georgia State as Blue Hens Win at Buzzer Again
January 22, 2011
Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
• Boxscore
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Jawan Carter drilled a three-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer as the University of Delaware men's basketball team continued its last-second winning ways by posting a 64-62 victory over Georgia State Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.
Delaware, which improved to 10-8 overall and 5-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association, won its third straight conference game for the first time since a 5-0 league start in the 2007-08 season. The Blue Hens, who had lost 23 straight CAA road games prior to last Saturday's 66-63 win at Towson on a last-second three-pointer by Devon Saddler, posted their fifth road victory of the season.
Georgia State, which fell to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play, dropped its fourth consecutive game and lost for the first time in four league home games.
Saddler led a balanced Blue Hen effort with 17 points and five assists while Carter finished with 15 points, all but two in the second half. D.J. Boney added a season-high 11 points for Delaware, while Kelvin McNeil added season-bests of 10 points and nine boards.
Eric Buckner scored a game-high 18 points for Georgia State, while Jihad Ali added 16 points. Brandon McGee was the third Panther in double figures as he finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Delaware, which also posted a last-second victory during Wednesday's 54-52 triumph over Northeastern, trailed by a point with 12.5 seconds to play. Saddler drove the right side of the lane before kicking the ball to Carter on the right wing.
The senior guard took a dribble to the left and lofted a contested three-pointer just before the final horn, while his shot bounced off the front rim, glanced softly off the glass and dropped clean through the net before Carter was mobbed by his teammates.
"Our guys just keep gutting it out," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. "We weren't great today but we were tough, and I'm really proud of the guys. We played great first-shot defense, but we just couldn't get the rebound a few times. Jawan has taken that shot so many times after hours at the Carpenter Center, and it really paid off for him today."
Delaware, which took a 35-25 lead into the break, used an early 5-0 spurt in the second period on a three-point play by Josh Brinkley and a fastbreak layup by Saddler to make it a 42-28 game. However the Panthers countered with six consecutive points to close to within eight on an Ali three-pointer at the 15:53 mark.
Saddler answered for the Blue Hens but Georgia State would continue to rally, and a 9-0 Panthers run gave GSU a 47-46 lead with 10:46 left on a transition layup by Fields.
However Carter would answer for the Blue Hens, hitting a jumper and a long three-pointer to put UD back in front 51-47 with 9:25 to play. Then after Georgia State scored six unanswered points, Carter's off-balance triple from the right corner gave Delaware a 54-53 lead with six minutes left.
McGee then hit a pair of free throws, but McNeil's follow of a Brian Johnson miss put Delaware back up 56-55 at the 4:26 mark. Carter added a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game, but Ali drained a three-pointer with 2:54 remaining to knot the contest again at 58-58.
Saddler then hit two free throws, but Javonte Maynor answered with a contested jumper as the game was tied at 60-60 with 2:06 to play. Following a Delaware turnover, McGee hit an off-balance 20-footer with the shot clock winding down as the Panthers went back up a pair with 55 seconds left.
Saddler then hit one free throw with 24 seconds on the clock, and after Ali lost the ball out of bounds on a drive, the Blue Hens took advantage on Carter's game-winning three-pointer.
The Blue Hens shot 43.1 percent for the game including 52.9 percent from behind the arc, and tied their season-high by draining nine three-point attempts. Delaware limited Georgia State to 40.8 percent shooting while holding Dante Curry, who entered the game leading the Panthers with 10.5 points per game, to zero points.
Ali scored first two baskets of the game but the Blue Hens answered with eight consecutive points, including six straighht by Boney, to grab an early 8-4 lead four minutes into the contest. It was a 10-8 game following a basket by Ali, but consecutive three-pointers by Saddler and Boney extended Delaware's margin to 16-8 with 12:11 remaining in the half.
A three-point play by Buckner pulled the Panthers within 18-13, but Alphonso Dawson drilled a three-pointer and Carter connected from 18 feet as the Blue Hens went up 10 at the 8:03 mark.
The Panthers battled back to within 25-21 but the Blue Hens would use a 10-2 spurt, ignited by a Johnson three-pointer and a pair of baskets by McNeil, to take their largest advantage of the half at 35-23 in the final minute. Georgia State's Marques Johnson drained a jumper to close the first half scoring but the Blue Hens still took their second double figure halftime lead of the season.
Delaware hosts George Mason on Monday in a 9 p.m. contest that will be televised live by MASN.
