Starting just a single senior, the young University of Delaware men's basketball team had one of the most heart-stopping seasons in recent memory.  

The Fightin' Blue Hens played in a total of five overtime games, one of which went to double overtime and the last of which knocked them out of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, and 12 games were decided by five or fewer points.

UD, led by fourth-year Head Coach David Henderson, finished the 2003-04 season with a record of 16-12 overall and 10-8 in the CAA.

It was the Hens' best showing in three years in the highly competitive CAA, which finished the season ranked No. 13 among the nation's 32 NCAA Division I conferences in the Sagarin ratings published in USA Today. In contrast, UD's former conference, the America East, was ranked No. 25.

UD even gave St. Joseph's University, ranked No. 1 in the nation as the regular season closed, a tough game for one half when the Hawks, led by premiere guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, visited the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center on Dec. 30. The Hens trailed just 29-25 at the half before St. Joseph's pulled away to win 75-54.  

The only senior starter for UD was shooting guard Mike Ames, who was named second team All-CAA and who won the conference's prestigious Dean Ehlers Leadership Award for his performance on the court and his work in the community.

Ames led the Hens in scoring with an average of 15.3 points per game and became the school's all-time leader in three-point baskets with 224. In the community, Ames worked with Special Olympics Delaware, visited the DuPont Children's Hospital with his teammates and participated in Boys' and Girls' Club programs locally and in his hometown of Phoenixville, Pa.

Junior point guard Mike Slattery was named third team All-CAA and joined Ames on the conference's All-Academic team. Slattery led the conference in assists at 5.9 per game. Also, he was sixth in the conference in steals and averaged 11.0 points per game.

UD's second leading scorer was Harding Nana, a sophomore in his first season with the Hens after transferring from Virginia Tech. Nana, who sat out portions of the season because of injury and NCAA transfer regulations, averaged 12.6 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game in 16 games.

The Hens had strong performances from juniors David Lunn, Robin Wentt and Calvin Smith and from sophomore guard Rulon Washington, who hit several key three-point baskets down the stretch.

Several members of the freshman class saw significant minutes, particularly center Raphael Madera and forward Herb Courtney, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during conference play.

UD opened the season 6-2 before the loss to St. Joseph's, which preceded the start of conference play. The CAA was very evenly matched this season, and the Hens neither won nor lost more than two conference games in a row, going 8-1 at The Bob, with the only loss in double overtime to eventual conference champion Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Hens lost 65-58 in overtime to George Mason University in the CAA tournament quarterfinals, overcoming a 13-point deficit in regulation.

"I'm proud of the way we played tonight," Henderson said of that game. "I thought we had the chance to win it when we got it into overtime but we made some mistakes and missed some shots that we really needed to knock down. We fought hard and we left it all out on the court, as we did all season."