Hens Do It Again: Last-Second Layup By Anderson Gets 73-71 Win Over Hofstra

Photo: Mark Campbell

The University of Delaware men’s basketball team definitely love the flair of drama in games recently as the team won on Thursday with a last-second shot, which is the second win in a row the Hens have done this.

The Hens won 73-71 against the Hofstra University Pride at the Mack Sports Complex on junior guard Kevin Anderson’s layup which went in as time expired.

The leading scorer of the game for the Blue Hens was redshirt sophomore forward Justyn Mutts as he had 30 points.  Mutts also recorded a double-double in this game as he collected 13 rebounds with his 30 points. This is Mutt’s seventh double-double of the season.

Redshirt junior forward Dylan Painter also recorded a double-double in the win as he had 15 points and 12 rebounds. This is Painter’s second double-double of the season.

Two other Blue Hen players scored in double digits which were redshirt junior guard Nate Darling (11) and Kevin Anderson (15).

Delaware had the advantage in multiple categories in this game which included points in the paint (48-28), fast-break points (7-2), rebounds (38-32), assists (14-12) and blocks (4-1).

The Blue Hens also bested Hofstra in shooting percentage by shooting 46.2 %(30-65) and the Pride shot 36.4 % (24-66).

Related: Cushing’s Last-Second Three Pointer Give Hens A 79-78 Win Over Elon

Hens Up By One At The Half

The leading scorers for the Blue Hens in the first half were Dylan Painter and Justyn Mutts who each had 11 points. As a team in the first half, Delaware had a 46.67 % (14-30) shooting percentage and they also shot 77.78 % (7-9) at the foul line.

The Pride had a 40.00 % (12-30) shooting percentage in the first half and the team also shot 83.33 % (10-12) at the foul line.

The game started with Delaware flying out to a 14-5 lead which was led by Nate Darling and Justyn Mutts who each scored six points on that run.

Hofstra would answer Delaware’s quick start with a 22-3 run of their own which allowed the team to take a 27-17 lead with 6:13 left in the half.

The Blue Hens would fight right back as the team went on 21-10 run to close the half to end with a 38-37 lead. Dylan Painter led this run as he scored 11 of the 21 points.

The Pride Battle Back But Anderson’s Last-Second Shot Seals The Win For UD

The leading scorer in the second half for the Blue Hens was Justyn Mutts who scored 19 points. As a team, Delaware shot 45.71 % (16-35) in the second half and they also shot 75.00 % (3-4) at the foul line.

The second half was Hofstra’s worst half of shooting as the team shot 33.33 % (12-36). The Pride also shot 100.00 % (8-8) at the foul line.

Delaware came out of halftime outscoring the Pride 8-2 which pushed the Blue Hens lead to 46-39 with 16:16 left in the second half.

At the 9:43 minute mark, Hofstra was down by seven points ( 58-51) but the team would go on a 17-6 run to take a 66-64 lead with 4:18 left in the game.

In the next couple of minutes, there would be three lead changes and two tied scores but with six seconds left in the second half, the Pride tied the game up at 71.

It looked like this game could go into overtime but Delaware’s Kevin Anderson had other plans. Anderson hit the last-second layup as time expired to give his team a hard-fought 73-71 road win.

What did Anderson have to say after hitting the clutch shot? Well, he told the Hens site he just hit the shot that coach drew up.

“Coach drew up the last play, and I was just able to get to the basket and get a bucket. This is a really big win. We’ve faced some adversity lately, but to come in here and beat the preseason favorite shows we can beat anybody in the league.”

The Hens stay on the road to take on Northeastern on January 25th at 12:00 PM ET.

Stats:

FG%: UD46.2 %&HOF36.4 %
3P%: UD15.0 %& HOF29.4 %
FT%: UD76.9 %&HOF90.0 %
Rebs: UD 38&HOF32
Ast: UD14&HOF12
Stl: UD4&HOF 5
TO: UD 14 &HOF8
Blks: UD4 &HOF1