Men’s basketball continues early-season struggles

The Delaware men's basketball team started 0-2 for the fourth straight year after losing to Bucknell University 82-66 at the Bob Carpenter Center on Wednesday night.

Head coach Monte´ Ross believes the team lost control of the game and missed a couple of shots they should have made.

"It was a ball game where our execution was good on both sides of the floor for about the first 12 to 15 minutes of the game," Ross said. "When the score was 20 to 20 with five minutes to go in the first half, then we had some major breakdowns."

Bucknell scored 57.1 percent of their points in field goals, made five out of eight shots beyond the three-point line and was made 29 of 33 free throw attempts. During the second half they were able to breeze through the game.

On the other side of the court, Delaware hit just 37 percent of their shots.

Jawan Carter, who had a team high 17 points,  stated the team is taking the time to get to know each other better.

"Obviously we are a work in progress and it shows on the court," Carter said. "The key is just to be better tomorrow then we were today and to come together as a union."

Carter also agreed with the referees who called fouls on aggressive Delaware players.

"A foul is a foul. We just have to do better moving our feet and stop using our hands and communicate better on defense," Carter said. 

Junior Alphonso Dawson added 10 points, with eight of them coming off offensive rebounds.

"We play aggressive in practice and we always foul each other because we are trying to pick up on defense," Dawson said. "Last year we were definitely not as aggressive and this year coach is trying to increase our defense."

The team practiced together in the summer but are still trying to work on their chemistry.

"We are young and chemistry is not there yet. We can play all summer but in an actual game it is different," Dawson said.

Ross explained the Hens have to get better offensively and defensively, and he does not let the players use the excuse that they are a young team. He reminded them they are all here because they are basketball players.

"In a situation where you are down 12 points we have to express to the players in the locker rooms there are no 12-point plays," Ross said. "We just have to fight our way."

According to Ross, Bucknell was ahead of Delaware offensively because their offense was difficult to defend.

One of the key players to the game was Bucknell guard Bryan Cohen, who averages 15 points a game. The Hens were able to hold him to four points.

However, Darryl Shaizer scored a career-high 24 points including a perfect 9-for-9 foul line shots for Bucknell.

"We really focused on Cohen, we kept him to making only four points," Dawson said. "But Darryl Shaizer surprised us. Last year he did not score, he was a point guard to set everybody else up and this year he surprised us."    

Ross said the team will come back fighting in future games.

"They didn't hang their heads when we got down, they kept fighting and fighting," Ross said. "We are always going to fight until the final buzzer sounds."