City of Basketball Love

Teddy Bailey (@TheTeddyBailey)
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Despite trailing by 12 with just over five minutes remaining, sophomore guard Kory Holden helped Delaware avoid an upset, defeating Marist 70-69 on Saturday night in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The Blue Hens bounced back after a rough 82-69 loss at Columbia last weekend.

At first …
Both teams played a back-and-forth first half, as a pair of free throws from senior forward Marvin King-Davis helped Delaware to a 26-18 lead with just over three minutes to play before halftime. Despite 12 first-half points from King-Davis, Marist and Delaware went into halftime tied, 26-26.

Turning point …
Senior forward Phillip Lawrence-Ricks hit a pair of free throws to increase Marist’s lead to 65-53 with 5:33 remaining. From there, Delaware would reel off a 15-3 run to tie the game at 68 with 55 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Kory Holden was instrumental in getting the Blue Hens back in the game, as Delaware’s leading scorer tallied ten of those 15 points.

Shining star …
Marvin King-Davis finished in double-double figures with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Kory Holden that led the Blue Hens to a victory on Saturday night. Holden scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, including four 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes of the game. Junior guard Cazmon Hayes also added nine of his 12 points in the second half.

Sanford (De.) product and junior guard Khallid Hart continued his tear, scoring a game-high 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting for the Red Foxes. Hart’s 31 points, a new career-high, came on four 3-pointers and 9-of-13 shooting from the free-throw line. After a relatively quiet first half, Hart was Marist’s only resistance to Delaware in the second half, scoring 21 points in the final frame. Hart leads the Foxes in scoring this season, averaging 19.9 points per game entering Saturday’s game.

Noteworthy numbers …
Delaware obliterated Marist on the glass, out-rebounding the Red Foxes by a 44-to-25 margin that helped the Blue Hens get back into the game. King-Davis grabbed ten of those rebounds, while Hayes corralled nine and junior forward Maurice Jeffers tallied eight boards in the come-from-behind effort.

Up next…
Delaware (5-3) @ Boston College (3-6) 7 p.m, Dec. 19
Marist (2-6) @ Army (8-2) 2 p.m, Dec. 20