ELMONT, N.Y. — Twenty minutes into Tuesday night’s game with Iona, Delaware was halfway home to a pretty big win.

But then the Gaels showed why they’re a highly-regarded team in the first place.

Iona shot a blistering 60.7 percent in the second half, including 8-for-12 from three-point range, to put away an 83-72 victory over the Blue Hens in men’s basketball at UBS Arena.

Iona (10-2), coached by Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, out-scored Delaware by 18 points in the second half to shake off a seven-point halftime deficit.

“We had a tough second half against a very good Iona team,” said UD coach Martin Ingelsy. “I thought we did some really good things in the first 20 minutes, especially on the defensive end, but that didn’t carry over to the second half.

“Jameer and Kevin did a great job handling their pressure and controlling tempo for most of the game. But tip your hat to Iona, they made some big threes to get back into the game and sustain their lead.”

Delaware was playing without senior guard Ryan Allen, who was serving a suspension for a failure to meet program expectations.

But Jameer Nelson, Jr. helped pick up the slack by scoring a career-high 29 points and grabbing a team-best 10 rebounds for Delaware (9-4), which had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Kevin Anderson added 17 points and five assists, while Dylan Painter contributed nine points and seven boards.

The Hens were also playing without freshman Jyare Davis, who missed his second straight contest with a chest injury.

Delaware scored the first seven points of the game, and after an Iona layup, the Hens added six straight points to go in front 13-2 with 13:24 left in the opening half.

Nelson, Jr. buried a three to extend the margin to 24-14 five minutes later, but the Gaels responded to pull with 31-28 with four minutes on the clock. However Nelson, Jr. answered with another three, while two Ebby Asamoah free throws in the final seconds gave Delaware a 39-32 cushion at the half.

However, Iona scored the first 10 points of the second half, taking its first lead of the night at 42-39 on a Walter Clayton, Jr. three-pointer at the 17:43 mark.
Nelson, Jr. answered with a three-pointer to pull UD even, while a Wes Peterson layup gave the Hens a 46-45 edge with 14:12 to play.

But the Gaels scored eight of the next 10 points, going up 53-48 three minutes later. Nelson, Jr. countered with a layup, before Iona used an eight-point spurt to extend the margin to 61-50 with 9:14 on the clock.

The Gaels went up 69-55 before the Hens scored seven consecutive points to get within 69-62 with five minutes to play, but Delaware would not get closer the rest of the way.

Clayton, Jr. came off the bench to score 21 points for Iona, while Nelly Joseph added 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Delaware, the pre-season favorite in the Colonial Athletic Association, opens its conference schedule on Dec. 29 at UNC-Wilmington.