Delaware Men’s Basketball Uses Late Spurt To Defeat Cornell, 72-64, in Blue Hens’ 2011-12 Home Opener
November 22, 2011
• Boxscore
• Photo Gallery
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s basketball team used a late 11-0 run to erase a one-point deficit and went on to defeat Cornell, 72-64, Tuesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center in the Blue Hens’ 2011-12 home opener.
Delaware, which improved to 1-2 on the season and won its home opener for the second straight year, trailed 58-57 with 3:39 remaining when Big Red guard Drew Ferry connected on hit fourth three-pointer of the night.
However two free throws by Jamelle Hagins put the Blue Hens in front for good with 1:56 to play, and following a miss by Cornell’s Chris Wroblewski, Devon Saddler found Kyle Anderson for a three-pointer from the right corner to make it a 62-58 game with 1:23 left.
After Cornell guard Galal Cancer misfired from long distance, Saddler was fouled and drained two free throws to put Delaware up six with 1:06 on the clock. Saddler and Hagins then each went 2 of 2 from the charity stripe, closing the 11-0 run and increasing the margin to 68-58 with 38 seconds left. The Big Red scored six points the rest of the way, but Khalid Lewis and Saddler each hit a pair of foul shots for the Blue Hens to put the game away.
Saddler (at right) led Delaware in scoring for the third consecutive game with 21 points to go with six rebounds and a game-high five assists, while Hagins (at left) was a force inside with 13 points and a team-best eight boards. Anderson, making his first career start, reached double figures for the second straight game with 11 points, while Josh Brinkley had his best game of the young season by contributing seven rebounds and six points.
Cornell, which dropped to 2-3 on the season, got a team-best 16 points from Ferry, who went 4 of 9 from behind the arc. Cancer chipped in 13 points for the Big Red, while Eitan Chemerinski had 12 points. Shonn Miller narrowly missed a double-double as he finished with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
“It’s a steady progress for our team,” said sixth-year Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “We will be better a month from now, and even better a month after that. As long as this team continues to work hard, we’ll be fine. Devon is just a very good player and he’s not afraid to make the extra pass. He did that tonight, and Kyle knocked down a big shot for us.”
The game remained tight through the opening eight minutes before Delaware used a 12-2 spurt to go up 24-14 on an Anderson three-pointer at the 7:42 mark of the opening half. However the Big Red quickly answered with a 12-2 run of its own, tying the game at 26-26 at the 3:12 mark on a driving layup by Cancer. Brinkley responded with a foul line jumper on the Blue Hens’ next possession, and after both teams went scoreless the rest of the way, Delaware took a slim 28-26 margin into the break.
The Blue Hens led by just a point at 36-35 following another layup by Cancer but a 9-2 UD spurt, capped by a Saddler three-pointer, extended the advantage to 45-37 with 12:44 to play. Delaware again went up eight at 50-42 on a Lewis jumper at the 8:39 mark, and it was still a five-point lead when Hagins hit a free throw with 5:01 to play.
However Wroblewski hit two free throws for Cornell, and after one by Miller, Ferry connected from long distance to give the Big Red a 58-57 advantage with 3:39 to play. But Delaware immediately responded with the decisive 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.
The Blue Hens held a commanding 47-31 rebounding advantage, shot a season-high 44.4 percent from the field, and went 18 of 26 from the foul line, including a 14 of 14 performance in the final two minutes.
Delaware remains home on Saturday to host Lafayette at the Bob Carpenter Center at 2 p.m.
