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Delaware 87, Maine 74
February 18, 1999

 

Delaware Outlasts Maine 87-74 in Men's Basketball

DATE: February 18, 1999

ORONO, ME -- Tyrone Perry scored a team-high 20 points, including four free throws in the final minute, as the University of Delaware clinched at least second place in the America East standings with an 87-74 win over Maine at Alfond Arena Thursday night.

All five starters scored in double figures as the Blue Hens (21-5, 14-3 America East) won for the ninth straight time, the longest win streak in head coach Mike Brey's four-year tenure. The Hens also avenged their only home loss of the season, a 70-59 setback to Maine in January.

Andy Bedard scored 21 points and Nate Fox, Marcus Wills, and Fred Meeks added 14 apiece for the Black Bears (17-8, 12-5), who will finish either third or fourth in the league standings.

"This was a battle between two very good basketball teams," said Brey, whose team plays Saturday at New Hampshire. "These are two teams who could easily be our league champion and I'm just happy to be one of them. We stepped up in key situations tonight. We wanted to run and shoot and play smart and we did all three. I was also pleased with our rebounding effort."

Kestutis Marciulionis added 18 points, including three three- pointers, Mike Pegues added 14 points before fouling out with just under six minutes left, John Gordon scored 15 points in his first game back to Alfond, where he played for the Black Bears for two seasons, and center John Bennett added 12 points, eight rebounds, and five blocked shots to aid the Blue Hen effort.

Delaware led 43-42 at halftime and a game that was close throughout. The Hens led for most of the second half until the Black Bears tied it up at 68-68 with 5:20 left to play. But Perry followed with a jumper and Marciulionis added four free throws to help the Hens pull away. Delaware converted 9 of 10 free throws in the final 41 seconds to keep Maine at bay.

The Hens close out the regular season Saturday night at New Hampshire. A Delaware win combined with a Drexel loss to Hofstra Sunday will give the Blue Hens the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the America East Tournament hosted by Delaware Feb. 26-28 at the Bob Carpenter Center.

AGATE:

DELAWARE (21-5, 14-3) - Pegues, 7-15 0-0 14, Marciulionis, 4-12 7-9 18, Bennett, 5-7 2-5 12, Perry, 6-10 6-7 20, Gordon, 5-10 2-3 15, Ndiaye, 0-0 0-0 0, Mullen, 0-0 0-0 0, Diouf, 3-4 2-2 8, Miller, 0-0 0-0 0, Totals, 30-58 20-27 87.

MAINE (17-8, 12-5) - Fox, 4-8 5-7 14, Meeks, 6-13 0-0 14, Ledbetter, 2-9 1-2 5, Wills, 6-9 0-0 14, Bedard, 9-16 1-3 21, Thibodeau, 0-1 0-0 0, Faison, 0-1 0-0 0, Dye, 2-5 2-2 6, Haynes, 0- 2 0-1 0, Totals, 29-64 9-15 74.

Halftime: Delaware 43, Maine 42; Three-point field goals: D - 7-12 (Marciulionis, 3-6, Gordon, 2-3, Perry, 2-3), M - 7-19 (Meeks, 2-6, Wills, 2-3, Bedard, 2-4, Fox, 1-3, Thibodeau, 0-1, Dye, 0-1, Haynes, 0-1); Rebounds: D - 39 (Bennett, 8), M - 30 (Ledbetter, 8); Assists: D - 20 (Pegues, Marciulionis, 5), M - 13 (Bedard, 5); Fouled Out: Pegues, Fox, Bedard; Total Fouls: D - 18, M - 20; Attendance: 3,456.

 

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