Hot-Shooting Delaware Rallies Past William & Mary, 85-79
Rob Washburn
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | SIGHTS & SOUNDS | PHOTO GALLERY | DELAWARE PRESS CONFERENCE
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 10, 2019) – Freshman Ithiel Horton poured in 26 points and backcourt mate Ryan Allen added 23 as No. 5 Delaware overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat No. 4 William & Mary, 85-79, in the quarterfinals of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs.
Delaware (17-15) advances to face top-seeded Hofstra in Monday’s 6 p.m. semifinal contest. The Blue Hens will be making their first semifinal appearance since 2014 when they went on to capture their first CAA championship. William & Mary, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, closes its season at 14-17.
Horton drained 6-of-9 from three-point range and posted his sixth career 20-point performance, while Allen was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and tallied 21 of his 23 points in the second half. Senior forward Eric Carter finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 13
th double-double of the season.
For William & Mary, junior forward Justin Pierce contributed a team-high 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Junior Nathan Knight recorded his 12
th double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds and also had seven assists and four blocked shots.
The game was a tale of two halves. W&M shot a blistering 69.2% from the floor over the first 20 minutes and had three players reach double digits – Pierce (16), Knight (11) and Matt Milon (10). The Tribe took its largest lead of the game, 45-29, with 1:09 left in the period and was up 45-31 at the break.
The tables turned after halftime as the Blue Hens overcame the largest halftime deficit in CAA Tournament history. Delaware trailed 64-52 with 10:29 remaining before going on an 18-2 run to take the lead for good. Horton hit a 3-pointer that cut the UD deficit to 65-62 and Allen followed with back-to-back treys to put the Hens ahead 68-65 with 6:54 to go.
Delaware pushed its advantage to as much as eight, but W&M rallied to within two, 81-79, on a Matt Milon triple with 43 seconds to play. The Hens answered with a 3-pointer from Darian Bryant with 17 seconds remaining that put UD in control.
Delaware finished 14-of-24 from 3-point range, including 10-of-15 in the second half. The Blue Hens also held W&M to just 30.8% shooting in the second half.