Anderson paces Delaware Blue Hens to third straight win

NEWARK — Delaware has needed a few different players to step and lead the way scoring this season.

Luckily, the Blue Hens have more than a few players capable of the job.

On Sunday, it was Kevin Anderson and Ebby Asamoah who led the way in Delaware’s 70-60 victory over UMBC in non-conference men’s basketball on Sunday afternoon at the Carpenter.

Playing without leading scorer Ryan Allen, Anderson netted 20 points and Asamoah came off the bench to add 14 as the Hens (7-3) won their third game in a row.

Allen, who has started 99 of 109 career games, injured his hip in practice on Saturday.

More than anything, though, UD coach Martin Ingelsby liked the way his team played defense. The Retrievers (5-3), who knocked off Pitt earlier this year and scored 98 points in a win over Columbia, tallied only 20 first-half points.

“We challenged our group to really guard a talented, potent offensive team in UMBC, and they responded,” said Ingelsby. “To hold them to 20 points in the first half was a fabulous effort. We missed some shots in the second half but were able to get stops when we needed to. This was a great team win.”

Delaware limited UMBC to just 31.7 percent shooting from the floor including only 6 of 26 from behind the arc. The Hens shot just 36.6 percent from the field, but never led by less than seven points in the second half.

Anderson has now scored 1,100 points for his career. Asamoah returned from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury to pour in a season-high 14 points.

Freshman Jyare Davis added a season-best 11 points while Andrew Carr and Dylan Painter each finished with eight points and 10 rebounds during the win.

UMBC led for most of the opening eight minutes, before Asamoah drained consecutive three-pointers to put Delaware up 17-13 with 9:45 to play in the first half.

The Hens then held UMBC to just one field goal over the final nine and a half minutes, closing the period with a 12-3 run to take a 31-20 advantage into the break.

Early in the second half Jameer Nelson, Jr. converted back-to-back layups, extending the margin to 42-25 and forcing a UMBC timeout with 16:27 remaining. UD was up 16 points with 13 minutes to play following a Carr jumper, but the Retrievers scored seven consecutive points to close within 44-35 with 11:25 to play.

It was a 51-44 game before Delaware held UMBC scoreless for over five minutes, pushing the margin to 60-44 when Carr connected on a free throw at the 1:52 mark. The Retrievers pulled within 62-55 with 54 seconds to play, but did not threaten the Blue Hens from there.

Delaware is home again on Wednesday when it hosts Lafayette at 7 p.m.

Girls’ basketball

Delaware Military 53, Smyrna 49: The Eagles fell behind 28-21 at halftime before falling to the Seahawks in the DMA tournament on Saturday night. Smyrna is 1-1.

Boys’ basketball

Indian River 65, Sts. Peter & Paul, Md. 59: The Indians evened their record at 1-1 on Saturday after overcoming an early three-point deficit.