By Andy Walter

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Delaware is going to The Dance.

It took almost everything the Blue Hens had, but No. 5 Delaware completed its Cinderella run to the CAA title by out-lasting No. 2 UNCW, 59-55, in a thrilling finish on Tuesday night.

Delaware scored the final five points to become the first fifth seed to win the CAA crown in the league’s 40-year history.

The Blue Hens are going to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history and for the first time since 2014.

When the clock hit zero after a UNCW miss, Delaware’s players and coach stormed the floor, happily celebrating at mid-court as the Blue Hen crow roared.

With Gov. John Carney looking on and taking pictures, The Hens donned their championship hats and t-shirts before hoisting the trophy and cutting down the nets.

“We needed to become a tougher basketball team and we became a very tough team,” UD coach Martin Ingelsby told the happy throng of Delaware fans in the arena. “We had a great belief in each other and in our system and how we play. I’m really, really proud of these guys.”

Freshman Jyare Davis, who finished with a team-high 18 points and was named the game MVP, gave Delaware the lead for good at 56-55 when he hit a short jumper with 59 seconds left.

Andrew Carr (17 points) made one of two foul shots with 14.5 seconds left.

But Ebby Asamoah grabbed the offensive rebound on the miss, was fouled and hit both free throws to seal the victory with 11.1 seconds on the clock.
UNCW missed its final four shots from the floor.

“A lot of people counted us out,” said Davis, a Newark native. “But look now.”

The Seahawks, who beat Delaware twice during the regular season, threatened to pull away when they opened up a 37-30 early in the first half. But the Hens kept it close, twice pulling with just one in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Delaware trailed 34-30 at halftime. The Hens led only once in the half, at 19-17 on a driving layup by Ryan Allen but the contest was also tied six times in the opening 20 minutes.

Carr netted 11 points with seven rebounds in the opening half. Jameer Nelson, Jr. had seven and Davis scored six.

The Hens shook off a three-game losing streak to win their first two CAA tourney games. That included knocking off No. 1 seed, Towson, on Saturday.
UNCW shared the regular-season title with Towson but was the No. 2 seed based on tiebreakers.

The Blue Hens were playing in their eighth conference title game since 1992 and were 5-2 in title games.

Delaware has won conference championships in three different leagues — North Atlantic, America East and CAA.

The Hens were 0-5 all-time against UNCW in the CAA tourney but were facing each other for only the second time since 2008.

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter@DSNSports.