Tuesday, December 31, 2013

DSU Hornets Falter Down Stretch in Loss to St. Francis Terriers

DOVER, Delaware -- Delaware State was outscored 13-5 in the last six-and-a-half minutes in a 60-57 loss to St. Francis Brooklyn in Memorial Hall today.

The Hornets led 52-47 after a lay-up by A.J. Thomas with 6:29 left to play. The Terriers answered with an 8-0 run, and pulled ahead 55-52 on a three-point basket by Brent Jones with 3:12 remaining.

Delaware State trailed 56-53 when Kendall Gray hit a short jumper to pull the Hornets to within one with 24 seconds to go.

Ben Mockford knocked down two free throws with 14 seconds left  to give the Terriers a 58-57 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Delaware State had a chance to tie the game with a three-point shot, but committed a turnover to give the ball back to St. Francis with 4.7 seconds remaining.

Jalen Cannon hit two free throws with four seconds on the clock to seal the win for the Terriers.

The score was 25-25 at halftime. The game was tied at 32 when St. Francis began to pull away. Mockford hit three three-point shots over the next five minutes to key the Terrier rally. His fourth three-pointer of the game gave St. Francis a 45-38 lead with 12:03 left to play.

Delaware State answered with a 12-0 run, and opened up a 50-45 lead on two free throws by Gray with 7:25 remaining in the game. Gray had six points and Albert Thomas four during the spurt.

The Terriers missed each of its four shots and committed two turnovers during the Delaware State rally.

Gray led the Hornets with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He has reached double figures in scoring and rebounds in each of the last two games. Gray has 24 rebounds in the last two contests to increase his team leading average to 6.3 per game.

Kendal Williams added 13 points and three assists, while Casey Walker had 12 points for DSU. Williams has scored in double figures in four straight and five of the last six games. He has climbed into a tie for second on the Hornets in scoring at 10.3 points per game.

The Hornets played without leading scorer Tyshawn Bell (10.6), who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury.

Cannon (9-9 FTs) was tied for game-high scoring honors with 17 points for St. Francis. He also led the Terriers with 12 rebounds.  Mockford came off the bench to also tally 17 points for the visitors. His performance was highlighted by five three-point field goals (5-9).

The Terriers were eight-for-30 from three-point territory, while Delaware State had one three-pointer on just seven attempts.

Delaware State was 21-for-50 from the field (42.0%), while St. Francis was 19-of-50 (38.0%). The Hornets were 14-of-22 at the free throw line (63.6%). The Terriers hit 14 of their 19 shots at the line (73.7%).

DSU had two more turnovers (13-to-11), while each team had 35 rebounds.

The Terriers won their fourth straight game to improve to 9-5. The Hornets dropped their fifth in a row to fall to 2-10.

Delaware State returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 2) at home against Gardner Webb. Game time is 7:00 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

DSU v SFC_stats_plays



COURTESY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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