TOWSON, Md. — Martin Ingelsby said he could tell, even during the pre-game National Anthem, that something was off about the floor.

The Delaware men’s basketball team had noticed earlier in the afternoon on Thursday that the floor in Towson’s SECU Arena just seemed sticky.

“I was standing there for the National Anthem and it was hard to pick my shoes up because they were kind of locked to the ground,” said Ingelsby, the Blue Hens’ coach.

Sure enough, when the game started, players for both Towson and Delaware fell to the court — more than seemed normal.

Finally, when the Hens’ Jameer Nelson, Jr. slipped less than two minutes into the second half, the referees had seen enough. The three officials made the pretty unusual call to suspend the contest because of unsafe playing conditions.

The CAA game will be resumed at some future date with Delaware leading 38-29 and 18:42 remaining in the game.

College basketball games have been stopped before due to slippery courts but this still a pretty rare occurrence.

“I told our team after the game, I have never been a part of a game like that — that had been suspended,” said Ingelsby.

Two of the UD players who fell in the first half — center Dylan Painter and Ebby Asamoah — ended up with sprained ankles. But Asamoah’s injury seemed to be caused by stepping on another player’s foot, rather than the court conditions.

Ingelsby, whose team is slated to play again on Saturday at James Madison, said it was too soon to say whether the two starters would miss any playing time.

“Honestly, it just felt a little off,” Asamoah said about the floor. “I don’t know, maybe it’s the humidity in here. It was a little slippery for everybody. Even Towson’s team was slipping.”

Both coaches said the officiating crew of Pat Driscoll, Jamie Luckie and Tommie Morrisse are high-level referees.

They said the officials told the coaches at halftime that they were concerned and might have to suspend the contest if players continued to fall.

Towson coach Pat Skerry was apologetic for the situation. He said he’d seen the same thing happen when he was an assistant coach at Charleston in a game with Auburn.

“I don’t why it happened,” said Skerry. “Their assistant, Billy Phillips, said something to me about 65 minutes before the game. He said, ‘Does the floor feel a little bit sticky to you?’ I sent text messages to our operations guy saying, ‘Hey, make sure this is good.’”

The Hens and Tigers had just played on Monday in a game that was postponed earlier in the season due to COVID issues. Towson won the game, 69-82.

In Thursday’s quick rematch, Delaware led by as much as 38-25 in the first half behind 14 points from Painter.

The outcome of the game, whenever it’s finished, could have a big impact on the CAA standings. The Tigers are in second place in the league standings at 6-2 CAA, 15-6 overall with the Hens right behind at 5-3, 14-7.

“I thought we were playing really good basketball, so I wanted to continue to play,” said Ingelsby. “But the health of our players is what’s most important.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.