Ajmal Basit had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Delaware to an 81-77 win over Northeastern at Solomon Court on Thursday.
Ryan Iversen added 14 points, Maurice Sessoms 12 and Billy Wells 11 for the Blue Hens, who improved to 14-9 and 10-4 in America East play. Charles Cranford and Marcus Blossom each had 19 points to pace NU, which fell to 5-17, 4-9.
Wells made a three-pointer with 1:52 left in OT to put the Blue Hens ahead for good, up 75-73. Austen Rowland then stole the ball from NU's Cranford and raced the length of the court for a layup that gave Delaware a 77-73 edge. The Huskies missed two shots at the other end and Iversen grabbed the rebound. He sank two free throws for a 79-73 Delaware lead. Cranford's layup had given NU a 73-72 edge with 2:15 left in OT before the Hens' decisive 7-0 surge.
The game was tight throughout with 15 ties and 14 lead changes. Tied at 68 and with seven seconds left in regulation, Delaware had a possession to win the game. But Iversen's driving shot was blocked and rebounded by NU's Ty Hammick (9 points, 13 rebounds) with 1.2 seconds left. After a timeout, Blossom's fling from 35 feet didn't draw rim.
Delaware had its largest lead of the night, 52-45 with 10:36 left, after a pair of Iversen free throws capped a 9-2 run that broke a 43-43 tie. The Huskies answered with a 9-2 run of their own to knot the game again at 54 with 8:03 to go. The teams traded baskets the rest of the second half with neither team leading by more than two.
Basit, who recorded his NCAA-leading 16th double-double of the season, picked up his fourth foul with nine minutes to go in regulation. The UMass transfer avoided the fifth foul and carried the Blue Hens down the stretch. After George Aygar's 12-foot jumper gave the Huskies a 62-60 lead with 4:09 left, Basit netted Delaware's final eight points of regulation, including a layup for a 68-66 edge with 1:39 left. The Hens then had three shots to extend the lead but missed them all. Cranford rebounded the last miss and fed Blossom for a fastbreak layup to tie the game at 68 with 12 seconds showing.
NU jumped out to a 17-8 lead with 11:52 to go before halftime. Delaware came back with a 14-6 run to cut the deficit to one, 23-22, with 5:45 left. The Huskies held off the Hens and had a 31-29 lead at intermission.
VISITORS: Delaware 14-9, 10-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Basit, Ajmal * 6-9 0-0 9-14 7 5 12 4 21 1 4 3 0 30
22 Rowland, Austen * 3-9 0-3 2-2 0 4 4 1 8 3 2 0 1 36
24 Miller, Greg * 2-4 0-2 1-2 2 4 6 2 5 1 3 1 0 26
25 Wells, Billy * 4-9 3-3 0-0 0 2 2 0 11 2 4 1 2 34
44 Sessoms, Maurice * 3-7 0-0 6-7 3 0 3 5 12 0 1 1 0 28
10 Ames, Mike 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 13
23 Wentt, Robin 4-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 8 1 0 0 0 18
32 Iversen, Ryan 3-9 1-4 7-11 1 4 5 1 14 2 1 1 3 24
33 Knitter, Sean 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 7
42 Hindenlang, Dave 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9
TEAM ........................................ 2 4 6
TOTALS 26-59 4-15 25-36 17 25 42 17 81 12 17 7 7 225
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-29 37.9% 2ndH: 11-25 44.0% OT: 4-5 80.0% Game: 44.1% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-7 28.6% 2ndH: 1-7 14.3% OT: 1-1 100.% Game: 26.7% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-10 50.0% 2ndH: 16-20 80.0% OT: 4-6 66.7% Game: 69.4% 5
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 5-17, 4-9
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Bain, Jean * 3-14 2-10 0-0 0 1 1 3 8 1 1 0 2 42
22 Cranford, Charles * 8-16 0-1 3-4 5 3 8 3 19 3 4 0 1 36
30 Blossom, Marcus * 7-22 1-9 4-6 5 2 7 2 19 7 1 0 2 40
34 Hammick, Tyrone * 4-9 0-0 1-3 6 7 13 4 9 1 5 1 0 41
40 Aygar, George * 4-7 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 5 8 1 0 2 0 23
03 Morris, Cleophus 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 10
04 West, Tim 2-4 0-0 4-4 3 2 5 2 8 0 1 0 1 15
23 Francois, Jean 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 0 1 0 0 11
32 Barnes, Dwayne 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 4 2 0 1 0 0 7
TEAM ........................................ 4 3 7
TOTALS 30-76 3-20 14-19 25 22 47 25 77 14 15 3 6 225
TOT-FG 1stH: 12-33 36.4% 2ndH: 14-33 42.4% OT: 4-10 40.0% Game: 39.5% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-11 18.2% 2ndH: 1-5 20.0% OT: 0-4 00.0% Game: 15.0% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-8 62.5% 2ndH: 8-9 88.9% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 73.7% 1
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OFFICIALS: Reggie Greenwood, Joe Pescitelli, Mike Brophy
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Delaware - none
Northeastern - none
ATTENDANCE: 444
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Delaware 29 39 13 81
Northeastern 31 37 9 77
Sessoms (UD) fouls out at 4:44 (2nd), Aygar (NU) out at 3:53 (OT)
