I Box Score (PDF)

NEWARK, Del. -- Delaware scored 11 straight points after Cornell took a lead in the final four minutes of the contest and went on to a 72-64 victory over the Big Red on Tuesday evening at Acierno Arena. Cornell slipped to 2-3 on the year, while the Blue hens won their home opener to improve to 1-2.

Senior Drew Ferry had 16 points and four rebounds to lead the Big Red, while freshman Galal Cancer (13 points) and junior Eitan Chemerinski (12 points) were also in double figures, Freshman Shonn Miller chipped in with eight points, a career-high 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals in the loss. The Big Red shot just 38 percent from the floor overall and 26 percent from 3-point range.

Devon Saddler scored 21 points and added six rebounds and five assists to lead the Blue Hens, with Jamelle Hagins (13 points, eight rebounds) and Kyle Anderson (11 points) also reaching double figures. Delaware held a decisive 47-31 edge on the backboards and hit on 55 percent of its field goals after halftime to hold on for the win.

The Big Red got on the board first with a Ferry 3-pointer, but consecutive treys by Delaware gave the Blue Hens a 6-5 edge a minute and a half in. A Chemerinski up-and-under basket cut a 10-5 Big Red deficit to 10-7, and after the junior stole a pass into the post, Wroblewski found the big man on the break and drew a foul. Chemerinski made both to get back within one, and after a Ferry steal, Cancer drew another foul on the break and tied it up with the first of his two shots from the charity stripe.

Threatt hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and after a Big Red turnover, Kelvin McNeil got a leak-out and was fouled on the layup to put the home team up 17-12 at the second media timeout. A scramble after consecutive tipped Delaware passes landed in the hands of Kyle Anderson, who stroked a 3-pointer ot give Delaware a double figure lead at 24-14 with 7:39 to play. That forced a Big Red timeout.

Undaunted, the Big Red went on a 10-2 run to get back within a basket, with Wroblewski assisting on three baskets during the run, including finding Shonn Miller in thje corner for a jumper to make it 26-24 with four minutes to play in the half. Cancer tied the score after the media timeouts with a driving layup, but Josh Brinkley answered right back with a 15-footer on the next possession to give the Blue Hens a 28-26 lead. Cornell missed four 3-pointers in succession while running good offense, but continued to play its strong defense. After getting a stop on Delaware's final possession, the Big Red played for the last shot and got a great one, but Miles Asafo-Adjei's layup rimmed out to give the visitors a two-point lead at the break.

Cornell shot just 35 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 2-of-12 from beyond the arc, but still got 10 from Ferry and eight from Chemerinski, who played just seven minutes with foul trouble. Miller had four rebounds, two blocks and two steals before the break. The Big Red's defense kept the team in it, allowing Delaware to shoot just 38 percent and connect on 29 percent from 3-point range (4-of-14). Cornell's defense forced 11 turnovers to help overcome a 26-16 Delaware edge on the backboards.

Cornell regained leads early in the second half on a driving layup by Miles Asafo-Adjei and a wide-open 3-pointer by Miller in the first two minutes of the half. Saddler answered with a jumper and eventually took the lead back to eight (50-42), but Cornell kept clawing back in. The Big Red, trailing by five at 57-52, scored six straight to take the lead back on a Ferry 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play. Ferry then missed a 3-pointer on Cornell's next possession, followed by a Cancer miss on the front end of a 1-and-1 that would have kept the momentum at home.

The Blue Hens eventually regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Hagins after an offensive rebound, and after Wroblewski missed a jumper, Anderson buried a 3-pointer from the corner with just over a minute to play to send the home crowd out of its seats. A quick miss by Cancer led to a rebound from Saddler, who was fouled and cashed in at the charity stripe. Up six, Delaware sealed the game in the final minute from the free-throw line.

The Big Red will return home from Thanksgiving Break with a matchup against American on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.