Nelson, Davis Team Up to Push Delaware Past Northeastern in OT
Rob Washburn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 4, 2023) – Delaware junior guard Jameer Nelson, Jr., scored a game-high 28 points, including all five of the Blue Hens’ points in overtime, to lift the sixth-seeded Blue Hens to a thrilling 77-74 victory over No. 11 Northeastern in the second round of the 2023 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
Delaware (17-15), the defending CAA champion, advances to play No. 3 Towson in the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Northeastern closed its season with a 10-20 mark.
Along with Nelson, fellow all-conference standout Jyare Davis contributed a double-double with 21 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. Christian Ray added 11 points for the Blue Hens.
Northeastern All-CAA guard Jahmyl Telfort tallied 16 of his team-best 20 points after halftime. He was joined in double digits by Masai Troutman with 12 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting and Chris Doherty with 10 points.
Neither team led by more than five during a closely contested first half. Nelson, Jr., who tallied 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, nailed a trey to put Delaware ahead 24-19 with 9:56 on the clock. Northeastern responded with a 12-2 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes and took its largest lead, 31-26, on a Joe Pridgen layup. However, the Blue Hens battled back to take a 38-37 halftime edge after a Davis bucket in the final minute.
Delaware hit five of its first six shots to start the second half and got six straight points from Nelson, Jr. to extend its lead to 53-41 with 16:11 left. The Huskies fought back behind Telfort, who reeled off seven consecutive points to pull NU within 54-50 with 12:43 remaining.
The Blue Hens built their lead back to nine, but the Huskies rallied to within 60-59 on a Chase Cormier three with 8:32 left. It remained a one possession contest over the final five minutes of regulation. Ray sank a pair of free throws with eight seconds to go that put the Hens on top, 72-69, but Telfort was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 4.6 seconds on the clock and hit all three from the line to force overtime.
In the extra session, Troutman hit a jumper to put NU up by one, but a driving layup by Nelson, Jr. gave UD a 75-74 lead with 1:22 remaining. Nelson, Jr. sank two free throws to push the margin to three with 4.9 seconds on the clock, and a game-tying 3-point attempt from Telfort rimmed out at the buzzer.
The contest was the first to go to overtime in the CAA Championship since last year’s First Round contest between Northeastern and William & Mary.
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