The University of Delaware men’s basketball team is now 2-0 on the season, as the Hens defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 56-53 in the Sunshine Slam tournament at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, FL.
The leading scorer of the game for the Blue Hens was redshirt junior guard Nate Darling who scored 26 points.
Junior guard Ryan Allen also scored in double digits for the Hens with 12 points in the win.
Redshirt senior forward Collin Goss was a rebounding machine in the win with 10 rebounds in the game.
Delaware had the advantage in multiple categories in the game which included rebounds ( 41-39), assists (17-11), second-chance points (8-7), fast-break points (14-6) and bench points (12-3).
Blue Hens also had the advantage at the three-point line as well, with the team shooting 37.0 % (10-27) and with Oakland shooting 25.0 %( 3-12).
Blue Hens Trail By Eight at The End of The First Half
The leading scorer for the Blue Hens in the first half was Nate Darling who scored seven points. As a team, Delaware shot 26.67 % (8-30) in the first half and they also shot 30.77 % ( 4-13) at the three-point line.
The first half belonged to the Golden Grizzlies as the team shot 39.29 % ( 11-28) and also shot 50% (4-8) from the free-throw line in the half.
The first half started with the Hens going a 5-2 run which was led by Darling who had a layup and sunk a three-pointer in that time span.
At the 16:12 minute mark, Oakland would go on a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead with 13:52 left in the half.
Around the 13:26 minute mark, the Hens would hit back to back three-pointers which tied the game at 11. Ryan Allen and senior forward Jacob Cushing were the two men behind the three-point back to back attack for the Hens.
In the next five minutes, the two teams were fighting back and forth for a solid hold of the lead which Oakland finally did at the 5:23 minute mark.
The Golden Grizzles would go on a 10-2 run to finish the half to end with a 28-20 lead going into halftime.
First Half Stats
Blue Hens were shooting 26.67 % (8-30) in the first half and Oakland was shooting 39.29 % ( 11-28).
Delaware was shooting 30.77 % ( 4-13) from downtown and the Golden Grizzles 28.57 %(2-7).
Delaware Goes on Multiple Runs To Take Home Win
The leading scorer for the Blue Hens in the second half was Nate Darling who scored 15 points. Delaware’s shooting improved in the second half as the team shot 44% (12-27) and also went 42.86 % (6-14) from the three-point line.
Oakland regressed in the second half as the team shot 34.78 % (8-23) but did shoot 57.14 % (8-14) from the free-throw line.
At the 18:24 minute mark started a dominant run for the Hens where the team scored 16 unanswered points to take a 36-32 lead with 10:35 left in the game. Darling led the charge on that run with scoring 11 of the 16 points.
The Hens would go on an 11-4 run around the 9:26 minute mark to increase their lead to 47-36. Ryan Allen led the run with scoring six of the 11 points on the drive.
The Golden Grizzles would outscore the Hens 15-8 the rest of the way but Delaware would hold to get a 56-53 win.
The Blue Hens take on Southern Illinois on November 9th at 3:00 PM ET in the Sunshine Slam tournament at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, FL.
Stats:
FG%: UD35.1 %% & Oak 36.0 %
3P%: UD37.0 % & Oak 25.0 %
FT%: UD 46.2 %&Oak54.5 %
Rebs: UD 41 &Oak39
Ast: UD 17&Oak11
Stl: UD 5&Oak 10
TO: UD 15&Oak13
Blks: UD 4 &Oak5
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