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| CAA-leading Hens prepare to face Old Dominion Jan. 15 |
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3:05 p.m., Jan. 13, 2003--Junior center Ioannis Xenakis came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points, including the game-winning basket on a jumper with 12 seconds remaining, to lift the University of Delaware to a 55-53 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball victory over Virginia Commonwealth University on Saturday night, Jan. 11, at the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center.
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| Ioannis Xenakis hit the game-winning jumper with 12 seconds left to lift the Blue Hens to victory. |
With the victory, the Fightin’ Blue Hens (8-5, 3-1 CAA) retained a share of first place in the conference entering a key contest Wednesday night, Jan. 15, at Old Dominion University. The Monarchs also have a conference record of 3-1, as does George Mason University. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.
After the game against ODU, Delaware will return home to face the CAA preseason favorite University of North Carolina Wilmington, which is 2-1 in conference, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18. Tickets cost $5 to $12 and are available at the UD box offices at the Bob Carpenter Center and the Trabant University Center, and through TicketMaster at (302) 984-2000 or online at [www.ticketmaster.com].
In the victory over VCU, Xenakis, a 7-foot native of Greece who had played just 17 minutes in four games this season due to injuries, took over inside for a struggling Maurice Sessoms (one for seven from the field) and played 23 minutes. He hit on five of nine shots from the field to lead all Blue Hen scorers.
UD, which also got 11 points from guard Mike Ames, including two big three-pointers in the final five minutes, won its third straight game.
“We find a way to win with solid defense and timely shooting,” UD Head Coach David Henderson said. “Our offense struggled all night, but we made it difficult to VCU to get points in the paint. We have played close games all season. Experience is the best teacher. I'm very proud of the way we played tonight.”
The Blue Hens overcame a tough-shooting night in which they connected on just 20 of 55 shots from the field (36.4 percent) and hit on just 26 percent (seven of 27) of its second-half attempts. Delaware won for just the third time in 21 tries over the last four seasons when scoring under 60 points and snapped a 10-game losing streak over two seasons when shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
Delaware completed the furious comeback when Ames pulled down a long rebound near midcourt after a VCU miss and found Xenakis open on the left wing. The lefthander sank the 12-foot jumper to give the Hens a 55-53 lead with 12 seconds left. The Rams had a chance to send the game into overtime but Troy Godwin missed a jumper in traffic in the lane just before the final horn.
The teams played to a 30-30 tie at halftime and VCU went ahead in the second half by as many as 10 points at 40-30 as Delaware missed on 12 of its first 14 shots in the second half and did not even get on the board until Ames hit his first of three second-half three-pointers with 13:09 remaining.
Delaware cut the lead to three points at 40-37 with 11:28 left but the Rams upped the margin back to nine points as backup guard Willie Taylor scored seven points in a 9-3 VCU run, completing the streak with two free throws for a 49-40 lead with 7:09 remaining.
But Delaware rallied back with Xenakis starting the run with a jumper and Ames hitting two three-pointers in a span of one minute, the second cutting the lead to 51-50 with 3:30 remaining.
VCU went back up by three on a jumper by All-CAA point guard Domonic Jones, but Delaware backup guard Ryan Iversen, who pulled a career-high 13 rebounds, followed with three free throws to forge the game's first tie since halftime at 53-53 at the 2:25 mark. Neither team scored again until Xenakis hit the game-winner two minutes later.
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