Delaware Blue Hens’ rally falls short at Hofstra

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Delaware had just won in two arenas where it hasn’t had much success lately.

But trying to add Hofstra’s arena to that list proved too much for the Blue Hens on Saturday.

The Pride used a huge 25-2 run to take control and then held off Delaware at the end for an 82-77 CAA men’s basketball victory at the Mack Sports Complex.

The Hens (2-2 CAA, 11-6 overall), who are in the middle of an unprecedented five straight conference road games, have lost six of their last seven games at Hofstra (2-2 CAA, 10-7 overall).

After falling behind 11-1 to start the contest, Delaware actually went up by as many nine points early in the second half. That advantage disappeared quickly, though.

“This group’s got to be tougher, grittier — not get content playing with the lead,” said UD coach Martin Ingelsby. “They (Hofstra) got confident. They were able to get back in the game quickly. We used some timeouts.

“Fifty-one points in the second half for them offensively. That’s not good enough from our defense. We’ve got to dig in and take pride in getting stops when we need to.”

The Pride’s second-half run put it up by as much as 14 only to have the Hens clawed back within one point with four minutes still remaining. They just could never make a big shot to get over the hump.

It didn’t help when Ryan Allen (13 points) with a knee injury in the final eight minutes. Ingelsby said the hope is that the senior guard only hyper-extended his knee.

Aaron Estrada scored a career-high 30 points and handed out six assists for Hofstra, while Jalen Ray added 23 points off the bench. The Pride converted 19 Delaware turnovers into 35 points.

Dylan Painter recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hens, while Andrew Carr also scored 15. Jameer Nelson, Jr. contributed 14 points, Ebby Asamoah chipped in 12, and Kevin Anderson handed out eight assists.

Delaware was 13-of-30 from three-point range.

The Hens finish their road stretch on Monday with a 7 p.m. game at Northeastern. They then host William & Mary on Thursday to start a string of three home games in five days.

“We’ve got to be more ready to compete out of the gate,” said Ingelsby. “That’s what I challenged our guys with. ... We didn’t have enough tonight.”