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HIGHLIGHTS | PRESS CONFERENCE – DELAWARE | PRESS CONFERENCE – TOWSON
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Delaware’s historic run continues as the 12th-seed Blue Hens utilized six players in double figures to upset top-seeded Towson, 82-72, to become the first double-digit seed to reach the CAA Championship game.
With the win, Delaware will look to become just the third team to win five games in five days in a conference tournament, joining 2011 UConn and 2024 N.C. State. Delaware is also the first CAA team in league history to win four straight games in the same tournament.
The Blue Hens (16-19) will face the winner of UNCW and Charleston in a 7 p.m. contest inside CareFirst Arena on CBS Sports Network. Towson moves to 22-11 on the season.
Senior guard Erik Timko led Delaware with a 15-point, six-rebound effort, knocking down three triples along the way. Trent Middleton Jr. and Niels Lane notched 14 points apiece, with the latter chipping in eight boards. John Camden and Izaiah Pasha each chipped in 13 points and Cavan Reilly rounded out those in double figures with 11 points and five assists.
Delaware became just the fifth team in tournament history to have six players score in double figures. The Blue Hens shot 55.1 percent from the floor and registered 17 points on the fastbreak.
Towson’s Dylan Williamson registered a game-high 23 points to go with a team-best four assists. Christian May recorded 12 points for the Tigers.
After a quick four points from the Blue Hens, May intercepted a pass and broke out for a wide-open slam to finish off a stretch of seven unanswered points at 15:41. Delaware reclaimed a four-point lead, 20-16, on a Timko trey with 9:30 to play in the first.
Williamson retaliated with the final four points on a 6-0 spurt, finishing through three Hens with a floater to retake a 22-20 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
The seesaw battle continued down the stretch with seven lead changes and three ties. Delaware’s Lane knocked down the final two shots of the half, including a jumper just before time expired, to take a 36-32 lead at the break.
The hot-shooting Blue Hens came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. After consecutive treys from Camden and Timko, Pasha forced a timeout with a wide-open drive down the lane to take a double-digit lead. Camden knocked down another triple to cap off an 11-0 run and see the Hens go up, 47-34, in the first 3:02 of the second stanza.
The top-seeded Tigers started to surge with an 8-2 spurt of their own, trimming its deficit down to seven, 49-42, following a pair of free throws from Tomiwa Sulaiman at 13:03.
However, Delaware staved off the Tigers over the next 10 minutes, nearly going shot-for-shot over that span. The Blue Hens saw their lead grow to as large as 15 after a trey from Reilly and Pasha sinking the back end of two free throws with 4:11 to play.
Towson did not go down quietly as Tyler Tejada and Nendah Tarke went coast-to-coast with finishes at the rim to pull within five with under a minute to play. Delaware proved to be much as the Hens held on for a 10-point win.