Philadelphia, PA -- The University of Delaware (1-9) earned its first win of the season with a 71-53 rout of Niagara (4-7) in the second game of the La Salle Invitational on Thursday night at Tom Gola Arena.

Herb Courtney led all scorers with 22 points on 10-17 shooting. Sam McMahon and (20) and Brian Johnson (12) joined Courtney in double figures with 12 of McMahon's points coming from three-point range.

The Blue Hens shot 6-9 from the arc and scored 70 points for the first time all season.

The Purple Eagles held just one lead in the game when J.R. Duffy hit a three-pointer to make the score 21-20 at the 7:44 mark of the first half.  They would hold that lead until the Hens' Courtney knocked down a triple with 2.30 remaining to spark an 11-1 run that ended the half. 

Although eight of the nine Niagara players who saw action scored, none of them had more than Cliff Brown's nine points.

Next up for the Blue Hens is a 6:00 PM appointment with tournament-host La Salle on Friday night.  The Explorers lost their first round game 68-48 to Holy Cross.

Niagara will next face Holy Cross at approximately 8:23 on Friday night.