Hot-Shooting Delaware Rallies Past William & Mary, 85-79

Hot-Shooting Delaware Rallies Past William & Mary, 85-79

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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 13th 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 12th 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.