By Andy Walter

NEWARK — They definitely made it interesting at the end.

But ‘interesting’ isn’t what Delaware’s men’s basketball players were after on Wednesday night.

In the end, even a last-minute barrage of three-pointers from Ebby Asamoah wasn’t enough as the Blue Hens fell to Drexel, 58-54, in a CAA matchup at the Carpenter Center.

The third-straight loss for the Blue Hens (4-9 CAA, 12-14 overall) came on a night when they were playing without Jyare Davis. The standout forward didn’t suit up because of a wrist injury he suffered on Saturday.

The Dragons (8-5 CAA, 14-11 overall) seemingly had the game under control when it owned a 54-41 lead with just 1:02 left. At that point, Delaware was 0-for-9 from three-point range.

But that was before Asamoah buried three straight three-pointers as suddenly the Hens got within four points three times — the first time with 29 seconds still left.

The Hens never got closer, though, as Drexel picked up its second tight win over Delaware. The Dragons won the first meeting by three in overtime.

“If we’ve had any luck this year we’ve had no luck at all with some of these injuries,” said Delaware coach Martn Ingelsby. “We’ve got 28 points a game sitting on the bench over there with wrists and hands and braces and stuff.

“You hold them to 58 points, we’ve got to score the basketball better. I thought we had some decent looks in the second half. We’ve got to find ways to score the ball more effectively.”

Delaware, which is still missing starter L.J. Owens (wrist), got 15 points from Jameer Nelson, Jr., 11 points and 10 rebounds from Christian Ray and 10 points from Gianmarco Arletti. Davis’ absence meant Drexel didn’t have to defend in the paint nearly as much.

“I’m the leader of this team, it’s on me to keep us on time,” said Nelson, Jr., who had five assists. “We’ve got to just figure it out. It’s something different every game.”

The Hens hung in for most of the first half. There were two lead changes and three times before Drexel went into intermission with a 30-24 advantage.

The Dragons led by as many as 14 points in the second half before Delaware’s last-minute furious rally.

Ingelsby said it’s too soon to tell if Davis will miss more playing time. He still expects Owens to be out at least another couple weeks.

“It is what it is,” said Nelson, Jr. “We’ve just got to stop feeling sorry for ourselves, especially me. It starts with me.”

Free throws

Nigel Shadd, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound grad transfer from Pacific, made his first start with Delaware. He had one basket, one rebound and one block in 16 minutes. ... The Hens were also missing Johnny McCoy (illness). ... Delaware returns to action on Monday night when it hosts CAA newcomer Stony Brook.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at walter@iniusa.org. Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.