Shots don’t fall, Blue Hens do in CAA basketball showdown with Towson

On a night the Blue Hens needed it most, their offensive firepower fizzled.

Delaware had shot better than 50 percent from the field in three straight Colonial Athletic Association basketball games – wins at Northeastern and home against William & Mary and Elon – for the first time in its 21 years in the conference.

But a 42.6-percent shooting showing on Monday left Delaware a few baskets short in a 69-62 loss to Towson at the Carpenter Center in front of 1,574.

BOX SCORE: Towson 69, Delaware 62

Delaware’s 23-for-54 accuracy included just 5-for-26 aim on 3-pointers. The Hens hadn’t scored fewer than 77 points in their previous five games.

“We’ve shot the ball well lately,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said, “and, you know, 5 of 26 from the 3-point line, I thought we took some quick ones, I thought we took some questionable ones and then we had some good looks that just didn’t go in.”

Kevin Anderson gave Delaware a 53-50 lead on a 3-pointer with 9:42 to go and a 55-52 edge on his drive to the basket with 9:17 left. But a 7-0 Towson run gave it the lead for good and Delaware was just 2-for-11 from the field the rest of the game.

Delaware still had a chance when Ryan Allen’s steal forced a held ball with the possession arrow giving the ball to the Hens with 13 seconds left and Towson up 65-62. But Allen’s 3-point try was off the mark.

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Polytech High graduate Juwan Gray’s two free throws then clinched it for Towson with six seconds to go.

Delaware (14-7 overall, 5-3 CAA) had its three-game win streak end. The Blue Hens and Towson (15-6, 6-2 CAA) entered the game tied for second place in the CAA behind UNC-Wilmington, which won at Northeastern Monday to improve to 6-0 in league games.

 It was the first game in a double-header of sorts as the Blue Hens and Tigers will tangle again Thursday night at Towson’s SECU Arena. Monday’s game was a make-up from a game called off due to COVID-19 protocols three weeks ago.

“They’re big and physical and they really make you work,” Ingelsby said of the Tigers. “They crowd the post. We were kind of taking what the defense gave us a little bit. We just missed some shots. Again, that’s gonna happen some nights. But I do think we settled. We needed to drive the basketball and they were making some plays around the rim, too.”

The Blue Hens had begun the season 7-0 at home, their best Carpenter Center start since going 9-0 in 1999-2000, and had won nine straight at home dating back to last season.

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Towson didn’t exactly scorch the nets either with its 44.4-percent shooting (24-for-54), including 6-for-17 on 3-pointers. But it was enough, and Towson did have 12 second-chance points, which were four more than Delaware, and 13 fast-break points, 11 more than Delaware. The Tigers enjoyed a 35-29 rebounding edge.

 “They made a lot of tough shots,” Anderson said, “and I would say, our team, we weren’t really making the shots that we usually make.”

Ingelsby felt working the ball into the post more would have been sensible.

“We kinda got away from what was working well in the first half, throwing the ball inside and Dylan and Andrew,” he said of Painter and Carr, who, along with fellow post Jyare Davis, were 9-for-12 shooting in the first half and 2-for-3 in the second half. “ . . . Maybe we needed to go inside a little more in the second half than we did.”