(photo courtesy of Mark Campbell)

TOWSON, MD -- Towson scored the final 10 points of the first half and used a 12-0 run early in the second half as the Tigers posted an 89-74 Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball victory over Delaware Saturday afternoon at the Towson Center in both teams’ regular season finale.

The Blue Hens, who had a two-game winning streak snapped, fell to 13-15 overall and 9-9 in the league. Delaware will be the seventh seed in next week’s CAA Tournament and will face 10th-seeded Drexel Friday night at 6 p.m. in the first round at the Richmond Coliseum. The winner of that game will face second-seeded UNC Wilmington on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Josh Thornton scored a career-high 24 points for Towson, which finished its regular season 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the conference. Tony Durant added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who put all five starters in double figures. C.C. Williams scored 17 points, while fellow seniors Sean Raboin added a career-high 13 points and Jonathan Pease contributed 12.

Blue Hen freshman Alphonso Dawson (at right) led Delaware with 18 points, while senior Herb Courtney recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Marc Egerson added 14 points and led Delaware with seven assists, while Brian Johnson posted 12 points and six assists.

Consecutive three-pointers by Dawson gave Delaware a 29-28 lead with 2:19 remaining in the first half, but the Tigers closed the period on a 10-0 run, capped on a three-pointer by Williams with two seconds on the clock, to take a 38-29 advantage into halftime. Towson increased its lead to 43-31 at the 18:51 mark of the second half, but the Blue Hens answered with seven straight points to get back in the game.

Johnson ignited the run with a three-pointer, and Dawson added consecutive baskets to pull Delaware within 43-38 at the 17:09 mark and force a Towson timeout.

However the Tigers responded with 12 consecutive points, going ahead 55-38 with 13:35 left on a layup by Durant. Towson took its largest lead of the game at 78-56 with 3:36 to play, but Delaware closed to within 80-69 on two Johnson free throws with 1:53 to play. However the Blue Hens would get no closer, as Towson went 22 of 30 from the free throw line to maintain its double-digit lead.

“We had too many turnovers in the first half, which allowed Towson some easy baskets in transition and enabled them to build a lead,” said UD second-year head coach Monté Ross. “We have done a good job of taking care of the ball this season, but for whatever reason we did not take care of the ball today.”

After falling behind 6-4 early in the game, Delaware scored 10 straight points and went ahead 14-6 with 13:12 to go in the first half on a three-pointer by Egerson. However Towson used an 11-0 spurt to regain the lead before Dawson’s consecutive three-pointers put Delaware back on top by a point.

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