HARRISONBURG, VA -- Marc Egerson (at right) converted a three-point play with 0.5 seconds remaining as the University of Delaware men’s basketball team came back to defeat James Madison, 66-65, Wednesday night in a thrilling Colonial Athletic Association contest at the JMU Convocation Center.

The Blue Hens, who improved to 9-9 overall and remained in second place in the CAA with a 6-2 league mark, trailed the Dukes 65-62 after two free throws by Pierre Curtis with 11.8 seconds remaining. However Blue Hen senior Herb Courtney was fouled by Terrance Carter while shooting a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.4 seconds on the clock.

Courtney made the first free throw but missed the second, prompting the Dukes to call a timeout. Courtney missed the third free throw, and the Blue Hens retained possession when the ball went out of bounds off James Madison with 1.5 seconds left.

Following a Delaware timeout, Brian Johnson found Egerson, who quickly scored a layup while being fouled by the Dukes' Juwann James with five tenths of a seconds to play. Egerson then calmly hit the ensuing free throw to put Delaware ahead by a point, and James Madison, which fell to 10-8 (3-5 CAA), could not get off a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Courtney led the Blue Hens with a game-high 22 points, while Egerson had 15 points and Alphonso Dawson added 14 points. Johnson posted five points, a game-high seven assists, and tied Courtney for the team lead with six boards, while D.J. Boney also scored five points.

Abdulai Jalloh, who played for Delaware head coach Monté Ross at Saint Joseph’s University before transferring to JMU, scored 20 points for James Madison, which lost its third straight game and the fifth in its last six contests. Carter added 14 points and five rebounds, while Dazzmond Thornton scored a season-high 11 points.

The Dukes led 28-27 at the half and scored the first seven points of the second period to go up 35-27 with 17:35 to play. James Madison took its largest lead of the game at 57-47 with 6:51 remaining following a three-pointer by Jalloh, but after Boney hit two free throws and a three-pointer, Johnson converted a driving layup to pull Delaware within 57-54 at the 4:35 mark.

Curtis answered with a jumper for the Dukes, but Courtney nailed a three-pointer and Egerson hit one of two free throws to make it a 59-58 game with 2:27 to play. Jalloh hit a layup to put James Madison back up three, but Courtney answered with a pair of free throws at the 1:29 mark to again bring the Blue Hens within a point.

Jalloh found Carter for a layup at the 1:10 mark to put the Dukes up 63-60, and Johnson was called for an offensive foul at the other end of the floor. But after a miss by James, Egerson converted a fast break dunk to make it a 63-62 game with 12.5 seconds left. Curtis then hit a pair of free throws with 11.8 seconds on the clock to put James Madison ahead by three before Delaware scored four points in the final 2.4 seconds to pull out the victory.

“Our first half was disappointing, but I’m proud of our guys for sticking with it and getting a tough road win tonight,” Ross said. “In the last seven minutes we starting pressuring the ball, and it helped us be more aggressive on the offensive end. We executed the final play perfectly, and for Marc to knock down the final free throw was huge.”

James Madison, which had its three-game winning streak against Delaware snapped, jumped out to an 18-10 lead and still led 24-18 before the Blue Hens used a 6-0 run to tie the game at 24-24 at the 3:03 mark on a dunk by Courtney.

After James scored to put the Dukes back in front, Egerson nailed a three-pointer to put Delaware ahead for the first time in the game, but Jalloh’s jumper at the buzzer game James Madison a 28-27 halftime advantage.

Delaware returns home Saturday to host Georgia State at 4 p.m. in a game that will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

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