Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, DE -- The University of Delaware stormed back from a 19-point deficit in the second half to send the game into overtime and then buried 10 of 12 shots from the foul line in the extra session to down George Mason 73-68 in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball thriller Wednesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Junior guard Marc Egerson led three Blue Hens in double figures with a career-high 23 points and Herb Courtney (at right) added 19 points as Delaware (7-7, 4-0 CAA) won for the fifth time in the last six games.

The Hens, in sole possession of first place in the CAA, are off to a 4-0 start in league play for the first time since 1998-99 and have now won four straight at home for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign.

George Mason (10-5, 2-2 CAA), the pre-season CAA favorite, got 20 points and 13 rebounds from Will Thomas - his seventh double-double in 15 games this season - and 18 points from John Vaughan but was hurt by 20 turnovers, including 13 after halftime.

Mason, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2006 and played in the NIT a year ago, posted non-league wins over Kansas State and South Carolina this season. Louis Birdsong and Folarin Campbell added 10 points apiece for the Patriots.

“We wanted to extend the court and get some easy baskets and we wore them down a little,” said Delaware head coach Monté Ross, whose team snapped a personal five-game losing streak against the Patriots. “When you are getting contributions from a lot of different guys, it’s very refreshing. It’s one thing to be in these big games, but to win them is really important for our program.”

Egerson, a first-year transfer from Georgetown, also pulled a team-high eight rebounds for the Blue Hens while freshman Alphonso Dawson added 13 points and six rebounds and Brian Johnson dished out six assists.

Delaware outscored Mason 22-10 from the foul line for the game, but struggled all night from the charity stripe until the overtime session. The Hens hit just 12 of 22 shots from the foul line before converting 10 of 12 in the extra session, including seven of eight over the final 1:24 to pull away.

The Patriots jumped out to a 33-24 halftime lead and took control early in the second stanza, using a 14-4 surge over the first four minutes of the stanza to go up by 19 points at 47-28 with 16:01 left after a Thomas jumper.

But Delaware slowly chipped away at the lead by holding the Patriots to just six points over the next eight and a half minutes. Mason went ice cold, committing 11 turnovers against the Blue Hen pressure and hitting just 3 of 12 shots from the field during the span.

Egerson converted a three-point play with 7:32 left in regulation to cut the lead to 53-51 and tied the game for the first time since the opening half at 55-55 on a jumper with 4:35 left. Thomas followed with a layup and added two free throws with 1:01 left to give the Patriots a 61-58 lead, but Delaware sent the game into overtime as Johnson buried a deep three-pointer with 51 seconds left.

Both teams missed opportunities to get the win in regulation as Jordan Carter missed a three-point attempt with 25 seconds left and Egerson misfired inside with just three ticks left.

The overtime session featured three ties in the first three minutes, the last with 1:52 left when Thomas converted one of two free throws to knot the score at 66-66. But Courtney, who missed 6 of 10 free throws in regulation, hit both ends of a two-shot foul with 1:24 left to give the Hens the lead for good at 68-66.

Dawson followed with two free throws to up the UD lead to 70-66 before a Vaughan jumper narrowed the gap to 70-68 with 25 seconds remaining. Egerson then hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left and added one more at the seven second mark to ice the victory.

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