March 4, 2003

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The No. 2 seed Adelphi men's basketball team edged No. 7 Queens, 52-29, in a NYCAC First-Round nailbiter, Tuesday night at Woodruff Hall. The Panthers advance to the semi-final this Friday on the campus of C.W. Post and will face No. 3 Bridgeport at 5:00 p.m. Adelphi improves to 20-8, while the Knights drop to 14-14.

Senior Wayne Nelson led Adelphi with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior Dwayne Thompson added 11 points off the bench.

Adelphi got off to a slow start, as Queens opened on a 12-4 run to start the game. Freshman Jamaal Wagner poured in eight of his nine points, including two three-pointers, as Adelphi rallied on a 11-2 run. The Knights regained the lead on a jumper by Greg Dickinson, and would hold on to a 22-21 advantage at the end of the first half.

The second half saw more of the same as both teams clawed for the advantage. There were ten lead changes and five ties in the second half alone. The Panthers trailed by three when senior Tony Kellman drained back-to-back three-pointers to give Adelphi a 31-28 lead at 15:07. The teams continued to battle and with 1:25 remaining and the game tied at 47-47, Thompson hit his first free throw to take the lead. Junior Thomas McCormack picked up the offensive rebound on Thompson's next attempt, and hit the lay-up with :30 seconds on the clock. After a Knight's foul, Thompson nailed both of his free throws to give the Panther's a five point lead with 8.8 seconds. Queens got off one final shot, but time ran out as Adelphi held on for the win, 52-49.

Both teams shot about 37 percent from the field. Adelphi was 85.7 percent from the line, while Queens hit just 8-of-13.

Queens was led by Dickinson with 13 points and five rebounds. Lance Hazel and Mike Leonce each had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Adelphi will face Bridgeport, a team it split with during the regular season, in the NYCAC semi-finals. AU looks to advance to its first NYCAC finals in two years. Last season, the No. 1 seed Panthers were upset by NYIT in the semi-finals, before going on to win their second-straight NCAA Northeast Regional title.