Washington, D.C. (Mar. 2, 2013) --- A.J. Thomas came off the bench to lead Delaware State with 14 points in the Hornets' 56-53 win over Howard at Burr Gym this evening.

DSU trailed 27-22 at the half, but outscored the Bison 34-26 in the final 20 minutes.

The game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes.

The Hornets took the lead for good (47-46) on two free throws by Tahj Tate with 2:23 left to play. Tate added two free throws on DSU's next possession to stretch the lead to 49-46 with 1:23 remaining.

Delaware State opened up a 53-47 lead on a lay-up by Miles Bowman with 33 seconds left.

The Hornets outscored Howard 11-5 to start the second half, and took their first lead of the game, 33-32, on a dunk by Kendall Gray with 10:04 left in the second half.

Tate added 13 points, while Gray contributed eight points and a game-high seven rebounds to the win.

Delaware State hit 10-of-21 second half shots (47.6%), while forcing Howard into 36.0% shooting in the final 20 minutes (9-for-25).

The Hornets also benefitted from better free throw shooting in the contest. Delaware State was 24-for-30 from the line (80.0%), while Howard was 11-of-20 at the stripe (55.0%).

DSU also held a 37-30 rebounding edge.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Delaware State, while improved to 13-15 overall and 8-6 in the MEAC.  The Bison fell to 7-23 and 4-12.

The victory was also No. 194 at Delaware State for head coach Greg Jackson. Bennie George (1949-71) is the Hornets' all-time leader with 201 coaching wins.