Feb. 26, 2005

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi men's basketball used a 13-0 run to blow the game wide open in the second half and held Philadelphia to just 25 points in the second half to end their regular season with a 67-58 win on senior night. With the win Adelphi closed out the regular season with an overall mark of 22-5 and a 21-3 record in the NYCAC, while Philadelphia falls to 19-8 overall and 17-7 in the conference.

The Rams came out smoking, jumping out to a 16-8 lead with 13:38 to play. Adelphi cut the margin to just one on a three-point play by senior James Samuels (Uniondale, N.Y.), but Philadelphia went on a quick 8-2 run to take a seven point lead, 26-19 with 7:08 left in the half.

With 3:22 to play in the first half the Rams had built up a 12 point cushion, 33-21. But then Adelphi got hot, with Jamaal Wagner (Jamaica, N.Y.) hitting one unanswered three-pointer and Kimani Blaize (Brooklyn, N.Y.) adding two more to cut Philadelphia's halftime bulge to just three, 33-30.

The Panthers stormed out of the locker room in the second half going on an 16-1 run over the first 9:39 of the second half to take a 46-36 lead. Philadelphia cut the margin to just five on two occasions but the outcome was never in doubt as the Panthers pushed their edge to 13 points with 1:24 left on the clock.

Adelphi was led by Blaize who scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed seven boards. Junior Eric Martin chipped in 14 points four rebounds while teammate Samuels added 12 points and seven rebounds. Samuels also scored his 1,000th career collegiate point on the night.

Philadelphia was led by Tayron Thomas (Bristol, PA) who scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Teammates Brent Welton (Philadelphia, PA) and Brian Tomko (Hatboro, PA) chipped in 17 points and 10 points apiece.

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, March 2 when they play host to an opponent that is yet to be determined in the first round of the NYCAC tournament