Pen in the Hens
Delaware wins America East title, secures NCAA bid
Posted: Saturday March 06, 1999 04:32 PM
NEWARK, Del. (AP) -- The Delaware Blue Hens took a beating in last year's NCAA Tournament. This year they are going back older, wiser and better.
John Gordon, from nearby Wilmington, Del., scored 17 second-half points to lead top-seeded Delaware over Drexel 86-67 Saturday for its second straight America East championship and an automatic bid.
"I believe we're a whole lot better than the team that went out to Chicago last year," Gordon said. "We have more experience and we're going to have a better seed. We're going to have a much better chance to upset somebody."
Delaware (25-5) will be making its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament. The previous three times, the Blue Hens have been placed in the Midwest region. Delaware was routed 95-56 as a No. 15 seed by Purdue in the first round of last year's tournament.
"I think with last year, with this young group, they were just happy to be there," Delaware coach Mike Brey said. "We had that deer-in-the-headlights look. Now, we've already been hit by the car. I can't believe we'll be a 15 seed or a 12, so it looks like 13 or 14. Hopefully we can keep it within 20 this time."
Gordon, who was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers, had only five points at halftime but hit a shot from behind the arc just 14 seconds into the second half that gave Delaware a 40-32 lead and sent the Blue Hens well on their way to their 13th consecutive win and the title.
Delaware has defeated its opponents by at least 13 points in each of the last 10 games.
"It's like 'Hoosiers,' the local guy comes home," Brey said. "I thought every shot he took was going in. He's hit every big shot we've needed and he's taken over whenever we needed him to take over."
Gordon was presented with the Reggie Lewis Award as the tournament's most outstanding player.
Conference player of the year Mike Pegues added 18 points for Delaware, while Tyrone Perry had 17. John Bennett grabbed 14 rebounds. Drexel (20-9) was led by conference first-team player Joe Linderman, who had 19 points, but only five in the second half and by Bryant Coursey who had 13.
Pegues sprained his ankle in the second half when he fell over Drexel's Petrick Sanders. He left the game for a few minutes as the crowd cheered "MVP," but returned soon after.
"The initial thrust of pain was the worst," Pegues said. "I knew it wasn't broken, just a tough sprain, and I knew I would come back."
With Delaware ahead 63-53 and 8:22 remaining, Kestutis Marciulionis' driving basket started a 12-3 run that Drexel could not recover from. Gordon scored five points during the stretch.
Marciulionis, who finished with 16 points, has averaged over 17 points in his last four contests against Drexel, including a career-high 33 in January.
Delaware, which lost only one home game this season, has defeated Drexel all three times the teams have met in the conference championship game. Delaware beat Boston University in the tournament final last season.
The top seed has won 18 straight games and is 39-4 overall in the America East tournament.
Both teams finished 15-3 in conference play, but Delaware earned the right to play the final at the Bob Carpenter Center by beating Drexel in both regular-season meetings.
In the opening half, Mike Kouser scored seven straight points during a 9-0 Drexel run as the Dragons grabbed a 17-16 lead with 12:42 left. Drexel extended the lead to 26-19 before Delaware responded with an 18-6 spurt, including an 11-0 run, to go ahead 37-32 at the half.
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