Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information
Delaware 89, UNC Greensboro 77
GREENSBORO, NC ? All-America candidate Harding Nana led the way with 24 points and 11 rebounds, 12 of those points coming over the final 10:33, as Delaware pulled away late to win its home opener, 89-77, over UNC Greensboro in men’s basketball action Monday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
The Spartans, which had a four-game winning streak halted, got 22 points and nine rebounds from junior guard Ricky Hickman. UNCG (7-4) also got 14 points and 13 rebounds from Kyle Hines, his fifth double-double of the season. Kevin Oleksiak also added 15 points.
Delaware (3-6), which snapped a six-game losing skid, was playing its home opener after eight games away from the Bob Carpenter Center. The Blue Hens also got 18 points from Andrew Washington, 11 of those in the second half.
“They have some good shooters,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “Nana took over late and they got to the line a lot because we started reaching in on defense.”
The teams went toe-to-toe right from the outset, almost playing a game of H-O-R-S-E. Whenever one team would knock down a big shot, the other seemed to have an answer. If one team came up with a big defensive stop, the other one matched it.
Sam McMahon came off the bench to score 10 points in the first nine minutes of the game to keep Delaware even as the teams were tied at 18-18 midway through the first half. Dwayne Johnson knocked down a pair of three pointers early on for UNCG, but left the game with seven minutes left in the first half after he turned his left ankle under the UNCG basket. He returned to play in the second half.
With just over four minutes to play in the half, the Blue Hens opened up a nine-point lead. UNCG came right back to cut it two. Just after a monster block by Hines on a Henry Olawoye dunk attempt, Everson Simmons knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner to make it a 35-33 game. However, Delaware scored six of the last eight points, including a reverse lay-up by Olawoye to close out the half, to take a 41-35 lead into the locker room.
The Spartans opened the second half with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 43-43. UNCG regained the lead with 14:30 to play on a spin move and bucket by Hines, 51-49. UNCG then opened up a five-point lead at the 10-minute mark, 61-56, when Hickman knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner.
But Delaware, which has only lost two home openers since the Carpenter Center opened in 1991, ran off 12 straight points to regain the lead. A three-pointer by Nana opened the run, answering Hickman’s right corner shot with one of his own. Nana would close the run out, as well, from the exact same spot to give Delaware a 68-61 lead with 6:47 to play.
The Spartans closed back to within four on Kevin Oleksiak’s putback, 72-68, with 5:05 to play. But Delaware went out on a 9-3 run to open up the first double-digit lead of the night for either team, 81-71, and the Blue Hens went on from there.
UNCG continues its two-game road swing with a Wednesday night contest at William & Mary. Game time is 7 pm.
Butler 86, Elon 40
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Butler's Brandon Crone scored nine of his game-high 18 points during a 21-0 first-half run the propelled the Bulldogs to an 86-40 win over Elon on Monday night.
That run over more than eight minutes gave Butler (6-4) a 29-3 lead as the Phoenix shot just 14 percent for the first half and trailed 36-12 at half time.
Crone was 7-of-9 shooting, leading four Butler players in double figures. Bruce Horan scored 15 on 5-of-9 3-point shooting, along with 11 points from Brandon Polk and 10 by A.J. Graves.
Scottie Rice led Elon (2-8) with 13 points as the Phoenix were never closer than 25 points in the second half.
Wofford 86, Union College (KY) 56
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - Shane Nichols scored a career-high 24 points to lead Wofford to an 86-56 win over Union College of Kentucky on Monday.
Nichols made seven of his 11 shots including six of nine 3-pointers. Howard Wilkerson added 17 points for the Terriers while Matt Estep also established a career-best with 11 points.
Wofford (4-7) led by as much as 13-points at 28-15 with 3:46 to play in the first half. But Union (11-3) cut its deficit to 33-24 by halftime.
The Terriers extended their lead to 42-24 with 17:17 to play in the game. Union responded with seven consecutive points but were unable to close the gap by more than 11 in the remainder of the game, with Wofford leading by as many as 33 points in the second half.
Jerrod Gibbons led the Bulldogs with 11 points while Joe Bramlage collected a game-high nine rebounds.
Holy Cross 82, Chattanooga 65
GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico (AP) - Kevin Hamilton had 38 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead Holy Cross to an 82-65 victory over the Tennessee-Chattanooga.
The Mocs (4-6) trailed 36-35 at halftime, but Hamilton knocked down two shots from 3-point range to make it 42-37. The Crusaders (5-4) extended the lead to 61-48 with 10:27 left.
Chattanooga's full court press brought the team within 66-61, but Holy Cross allowed the Mocs only four more points.
Alphonso Pugh led the Mocs with 13 points and seven rebounds.