Hagins, Saddler Lead Blue Hens To Second Consecutive Victory as Delaware Posts 85-80 CAA Victory at James Madison
February 1, 2012
• Boxscore
File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
NEWARK, Del. -- Blue Hen junior forward Jamelle Hagins scored a career-high 23 points while grabbing 18 rebounds and sophomore guard Devon Saddler added 22 points as the University of Delaware men’s basketball team posted an 85-80 Colonial Athletic Association victory over James Madison Saturday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.
Hagins (at right) notched his 12th double-double of the season, going 7 of 12 from the field and blocking four shots. His 18 rebounds, one shy of his career-high, give him 622 for his career to move him into 13th place on the Blue Hen carer rebounds chart. Saddler surpassed the 20-point mark for the 10th time this season for the Blue Hens, who won their second consecutive game while improving to 11-12 overall and 7-6 in the conference.
Freshman Jarvis Threatt, who missed the second half of Wednesday’s win over George Mason and did not practice Friday, shook off a right ankle injury to score 14 points, while classmate Kyle Anderson chipped in 13 points and Khalid Lewis had seven points and seven assists. The Blue Hens shot 46.9 percent from the field, went 7 of 14 from three-point range, and held a 36-33 rebounding advantage while winning for the sixth time in nine all-time trips to Harrisonburg.
The Dukes, who dropped their fourth consecutive gave, fell to 10-15 overall and 3-10 in league play. A.J. Davis, who entered the league ranked fourth in the CAA with 16.2 points per game, scored a career-high 30 points and hit four three-pointers for the Dukes. Humpty Hitchens added 17 points, Devon Moore chipped in 16, and Andrey Semenov contributed 11 for James Madison, who dressed just seven scholarship players.
“I’m very proud of the way our guys fought tonight,” Delaware head coach Monté Ross said. “Offensively we were sharp all night, and I was happy with our defensive effort in the second half to secure a win on the road. The guys trust the offense now, and are playing at a higher clip than earlier in the season. Once Jarvis got into the rhythm of the game he was fine, and he hit some big free throws for us down the stretch.”
The Blue Hens opened the game by hitting their first three shots from behind the arc including two by Saddler, while two more buckets by Saddler gave Delaware a 15-9 lead five minutes into the contest. UD maintained a margin between four and eight points over the next 10 and a half minutes, before inside baskets by Larry Savage and Lewis gave the Blue Hens a 40-31 cushion and forced a Dukes timeout at the 4:33 mark.
Delaware went up by as many as 11 points later in the half, before a three-pointer by Moore in the final minute brought the Dukes to within 44-36 at the break. The Blue Hens, who tied their season high for first half points, shot 46.9 percent in the opening period and went 5 of 10 from three-point range.
James Madison opened the second half with five quick points but Hagins answered inside with a pair of baskets, and a Lewis three-pointer made it a 51-44 with 15:40 remaining in the game. However Semenov fueled the Dukes’ comeback by draining three consecutive three-pointers, while a Moore basket pulled JMU within 53-52 with 13 and a half minutes left.
But Delaware would quickly respond with a 9-0 spurt including five points by Saddler, going back up double figures at 62-52 on a Josh Brinkley basket with 10:23 to play. James Madison would not go away though, as a driving layup by Davis capped a 15-6 run that again pulled the Dukes within a point at 68-67 at the 5:25 mark.
However Threatt again answered for the Blue Hens by converting his second three-point play of the half to extend the UD margin to four, and after two free throws by the Dukes’ Enoch Hood, Saddler buried a three-pointer to make it a 74-69 game with 3:24 left.
Two free throws by Davis brought JMU within three, but Hagins hit two foul shots before Threatt added one to put Delaware up 77-71 with 46 seconds to play. Hitchens drained a three-pointer to bring the Dukes within three once again, but the Blue Hens went 8 of 8 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to put the game away.
Delaware will look to extend its winning streak to three when the Blue Hens host UNCW Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
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