Hot-Shooting Blue Hens Continue To Roll; Win Eighth Consecutive Game With 82-72 Senior Day Triumph Over Northeastern
February 25, 2012
• Boxscore
• Photo Gallery (Mark Campbell)
• Photo Gallery #2 (Mark Jordan)
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell
NEWARK, Del. -- Blue Hen sophomore guard Devon Saddler (at right) scored 21 points while freshman Jarvis Threatt came off the bench to add 17 as the University of Delaware men’s basketball team posted its eighth consecutive victory with an 82-72 Senior Day triumph over Northeastern Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Junior forward Jamelle Hagins recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Blue Hens, who end their regular season with a 17-12 overall record including a 12-6 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association. Delaware, which has posted its highest win total since the 2000-01 season, will be the fifth seed in next week’s CAA Tournament and will take on 12th-seeded Towson in the first round on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.
The Blue Hens, who have won six consecutive home games for the first time since 2004, shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field by connecting on 26 of 48 field goal attempts. Junior forward Josh Brinkley, the fourth Delaware player in double figures with 12 points, hit all six of his field goal attempts while Hagins and Threatt (at left) were each 5 of 7 from the floor.
The Huskies, who end their regular season at 13-16 overall and 9-9 in conference play, were led by Joel Smith who reached team-highs of 24 points and seven rebounds. Jonathan Lee added 16 points and five boards for Northeastern, while Quincy Ford contributed 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
“This was a great effort by our team today; there’s no better way to send our seniors off,” said sixth-year Blue Hen head coach Monté Ross, whose team has won eight consecutive games for the first time since 1999-2000. “Samer (Madarani) and Hakim (McCullar) have meant so much to this program, and I’m happy we sent them off the correct way. We were able to get some early layups against their zone, and if we play inside out and don’t just rely on jumpers, we can be a pretty good club.”
Delaware opened the contest by scoring nine of the first 10 points, but the Huskies clawed their way back and took their only lead of the day at 20-17 on a Lee three-pointer with 8:55 left in the opening half. However the Blue Hens quickly answered with a 7-0 run, and later added a 5-0 spurt to take their largest lead of the period at 35-26 with 2:33 on the clock. A Demetrius Pollard three-pointer brought the Huskies within 37-31, but Delaware scored five of the final seven points of the half to take a 42-33 advantage into the break.
Ford opened the second half with a three-point play as Northeastern closed to within six but Delaware countered with seven straight points, including the final five by Hagins, to go up 49-36 with 17 minutes to play. Threatt connected from behind the arc to extend the Blue Hen advantage to 56-39 but Northeastern would not go away, as a jumper by Smith made it a 60-52 game with 10:34 remaining.
It was still just a nine-point game at 62-53 a minute and a half later but Delaware would put the game away with a 9-0 spurt, going up a game-high 18 points at 71-53 on a Saddler triple with 6:46 to go. The margin remained in double figures until Smith drilled a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to make it an eight-point game, before Madarani found fellow senior McCullar for a layup with two seconds on the clock to close the scoring.
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