Dover, Del. (Nov. 19, 2018) --- Delaware State broke open a tight game with a late first half run en route to an 80-47 men's basketball victory over The College of St. Elizabeth in the Hornets' 2018-19 home opener in Memorial Hall this evening. DSU won for the first time under new head coach Erick Skeeters to improve to 1-4, while the Division III Eagles fell to 1-2.

Jonathan Mitchell (sr.) led three Hornets in double-figures with a season-high 17 points. Mitchell was 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-six on three-point shots. Freshman Fahim Jenneto added 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jenneto has scored 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field (.706) in the last two games. He has also knocked down seven three-pointers on 10 attempts during the span.

Saleik Edwards contributed 13 points, highlighted by three three-point field goals, in the game.

Lance Rhoden came off the bench to lead the College of St. Elizabeth with 10 points.

The Hornets had a five-minute scoring drought in the first half and trailed 13-10 after a jumper by CSE's Jason Saldiveri with 9:31 left in the opening frame.

Delaware State trailed 18-16 before dominating the remainder of the first half. The Hornets scored 16 of the last 20 points in the half to lead 36-22 at the break.

DSU hit five three-pointers in the final 6:47 of the half, two by Pinky Wiley and one each for Mitchell, Jenneto and Justin Ryder.

The Hornets forced the Eagles into two- of-nine shooting from the field four turnovers to close out the half.

"I thought our play on defense was key to the turnaround," said Skeeters, who picked up his first career win as a head coach. "Our center Ameer Bennett set the tone with his hustle and defensive effort. Once we started getting stops, our shots stated to fall and we were able to get some easy baskets."

The Hornets carried the momentum into the second half to stretch their lead. Mitchell capped off a 12-0 run to start the second half with a three-pointer to give DSU a 49-22 lead with 15:40 left to play.

Delaware State led by as many as 34 points on two occasions, the last time at 76-42 on a lay-up by Myles Carter with 2:24 remaining.

Bennett and former Sussex Tech (Del.) High School start Kevin Larkin tied for game-high honors with 10 rebounds each for the Hornets.

After hitting just 13-of-35 first half shots (37.1%), Delaware State shot 51.4% in the second half (18-for-35) to finish to the contest at 44.3% (31-for-70).

The Hornets won the rebound battle 50-29, while each team committed 29 turnovers.

"It's nice to get this first win under our belts, regardless of the opponent," said Skeeters. "Our goal is to keep working to get better. We have some tough opponents ahead of us, and we have a lot of work to give ourselves a chance."

The Hornets will fly across country for their next contest at Washington State this Sat. (Nov. 24). DSU's next home game is Nov. 27 against Penn.

STINGERS
Wiley had game highs of five assists and four steals for the Hornets ... Larkin has 18 rebounds in his two games this season … he missed the first three games due to injury … DSU had a season-high 13 three-pointers in the game and 25 in the last two contests.