The official stat sheet gave Delaware eight assists Wednesday night at the Carpenter Center.
That did not include the most important moment when the Blue Hens benefitted from helpful hands that spun a video review.
Referees realized a foul call against Delaware’s Ebby Asamoah, made by an official who didn’t actually have a clear view of the play, needed a second look with 10:17 left and a 16-point Delaware lead having shrunk to four.
“I was so surprised,” Asamoah said. “You should’ve seen my face on the ground. I was like ‘Whoa, that was not me.’ “
BOX SCORE: Delaware 72, Towson 59
The video rewind then showed a flagrant hook-and-hold foul by Towson’s Nicolas Timberlake, giving Asamoah two free throws, which he made, and Delaware possession, which resulted in Christian Ray’s basket.
What would have been a 4-point lead with loss of possession became an 8-point cushion and just the jolt Delaware needed to go on to a 72-59 Colonial Athletic Association win over the Tigers.
“Thank God for technology,” Asamoah said. ” . . . It’s good they can review that and come out with the right play.”
The Blue Hens played their second game without point guard Jameer Nelson, Jr., whose 19.7 points per game are second in the CAA and whose 2.5 steals per game are a league best. He has a minor knee injury that has been classified as “day to day.” Same with Johnny McCoy, whose ankle injury put two UD starters on the bench.
FOOTBALL SCHEDULE OUT:CAA trip, Penn State visit to open 2023 for Hens
But Delaware improved to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the CAA heading into Saturday afternoon’s visit to Hofstra, which trounced the Hens 87-73 two weeks ago.
“I didn’t have a good look at it,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said of the foul play. “Luckily I have good assistant coaches that saw it and were saying ‘That’s a hook and hold, that’s a hook and hold!’ So they actually got them to go look at the monitor. That was a big momentum swing for us.”
Towson (10-7, 2-2) was No. 1 in the CAA preseason poll but lost its league opener in overtime to Charleston, which is ranked 22nd nationally and took a 15-game win streak Thursday night into UNC-Wilmington, which had won 13 straight. Charleston prevailed there 71-69.
The Tigers, who played without first-team All-CAA guard Cam Holden, had a score to settle, having been seeded first in last year’s CAA Tournament before a 69-56 semifinal loss to Delaware, the eventual champion. The teams meet again Feb. 16 at Towson.
CAA STANDINGS: Hofstra trip next for Blue Hens
“There was a period in the second half where they were getting rebounds on us, they were bullying us, to be frank,” Ray said. “Martin kinda challenged us. Coach Ingelsby said “Are we gonna be the team from the first half or are we gonna be a team that just gets bullied? I think the guys responded pretty well.”
Delaware is 10-0 while holding foes under 70 points this season. The Blue Hens never trailed, shooting a season’s best 63 percent in the first half to take a 39-26 halftime lead, which was also their highest scoring output in any half this season.
Ray’s 18 points and eight rebounds led the way. Asamoah supplied 17 points and six rebounds, Jyare Davis scored 16 points and L.J. Owens and Gianmarco Arletti had nine points each.
Towson shot just 35 percent from the field (20-for-57) to Delaware’s 51 percent (23-for-45). First-team All-CAA guard Timberlake scored 13 points to lead Towson.
“You knew they were gonna ratchet up the intensity with physicality,” Ingelsby said of Towson. “They were gonna get up into you. They would make it uncomfortable for us on the offensive end but we did enough on the defensive end . . . It was just a good collective effort to be able to grind out a league win.”
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