By Andy Walter

NEWARK — Clearly, the Delaware men’s basketball team is better with Jameer Nelson, Jr. on the floor.

But the Blue Hens proved that they’re not lost without their leading scorer, either.

With Nelson, Jr. and his 19-points-per-game average sidelined by a sore knee for a second straight contest, other players stepped up to lead Delaware to an impressive 72-59 victory over Towson in a CAA matchup at the Carpenter Center on Wednesday night.

The Hens (2-2 CAA, 10-7 overall) never trailed after netting the game’s first seven points against the CAA preseason favorite Tigers (2-2 CAA, 10-7 overall).

“A lot of times when somebody goes down, you kind of want to look for one person or two people (to step up),” said Christian Ray. “I think all of us — Marco (Arletti), Ebby (Asamoah), me, L.J. (Owens) — we’re all just trying to add a little bit more to take back that 20 points we lose from Jameer.”

That formula worked pretty well on Wednesday as Ray (18 points), Asamoah (17), Jyare Davis (16), Owens (9) and Arletti (9) all contributed offensively.
Delaware played ones of its best first halves of the season when it jumped out to a 39-26 lead by intermission. The Hens shot a blistering 63.6 percent (14-of-22) — its best percentage for a half this season.

The 39 points also equalled Delaware’s most points in a first half this winter.
“All the dudes stepped up,” said Asamoah. “It was a really great team win. I feel like we’re playing really great team ball.

“We can’t wait to have Jameer back. (But) that’s us as a team. We played hard and competed down at Charleston (on Saturday) but we didn’t get it done. We came with the same energy and the same competitiveness. We got it done tonight.”

After Delaware led by as many as 16 in the contest, Towson did make its runs at the Hens in the second half.

With 10:17 remaining, the Tigers had Delaware’s lead down to 52-48 and it looked like the Hens turned the ball over on an offensive foul call against Asamoah.

But the referees talked about the play, video-reviewed it and called the foul on Towson instead. Asamoah sank the two foul shots and Ray scored on the ensuing possession to stretch the Hens’ lead back to eight.

Towson never got closer than seven the rest of the night.

“Thank God for technology,” said Asamoah.

Asamoah ended up going 9-of-10 from the foul line. He, Arletti and Owens combined to hit all 10 of the Hens’ free throws in the final two minutes.

“It’s next man up,” said coach Martin Ingelsby. “Each of those guys have to give us a little more, especially on offense. Jameer is averaging 20 points per game. Guys are finding their roles and how they fit in.”

Free throws

Nelson, Jr. is listed as day-to-day with his knee injury. ... Delaware is 10-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70. ... Delaware plays its second game against Hofstra on Saturday when it goes to Long ISland for a 2 p.m. game.

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