March 12, 2006

Box Score

Easton, MA - The Adelphi men's basketball team gave up a season high 86 points to fourth seeded Bentley in the first round of the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional, but scored a season high 90 points to collect the win and advance to the regional semifinal. With the win the fifth seeded Panthers extend their region best win streak to 19 games, while improving to 27-4 on the season. Bentley ends their season with a record of 21-9.

Bentley took advantage of a slow start by Adelphi to build an early 5-2 lead just 1:46 into action. But, Adelphi turned the tables on the strength of three three-point field goals from Kimani Blaize (Brooklyn, N.Y.), taking an 11-5 lead with 15:43 remaining in the first half.

With the score 16-10 in Adelphi's favor, Bentley's Tim Forbes hit a three-pointer that sparked an 8-0 Falcon run, that gave Bentley back the lead, 18-16, with 11:51 on the clock. From there Adelphi and Bentley traded the lead five times before the Panthers got a three-pointer from Jamaal Wagner (Jamaica, N.Y.) to take a 26-22 edge with 8:48 remaining in the first half.

The Falcons battled back again, retaking the lead, 31-28 on a three-pointer from Sean Cooke with 6:02 to play. Blaize answered right back for Adelphi with another three-pointer to spur the Panthers to a 14-8 run that closed out the half, giving Adelphi a 42-39 halftime edge.

The Panthers opened the second half with a quick 4-0 spurt that extended their advantage to seven points, 46-39. Bentley responded with four straight points from Jeff Holmes, to pull back within three, before Adelphi went on a 10-3 run over a span of 2:38 to push their bulge to nine, 56-47, with 15:36 on the clock.

Wagner converted a lay-up at the 13:39 mark to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 61-49, before the Falcons came back again, using a 15-2 run to steal the lead, 64-63, with 10:37 remaining in the contest.

From there neither team to manage more then a five point lead, until Adelphi got back-to-back lay ups from Wagner and Mike Mosby (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) to take an 84-78 lead with 1:21 left in the game and seal the win.

"To get this first win in the NCAA Tournament and against a great team like Bentley is a tribute to this team and how hard they worked," Head Coach James Cosgrove stated.

Forbes led the Falcons with 26 points and six assists. Cooke added 19 points and seven rebounds, while Holmes chipped in 16 points and Nate Fritsch scored 14 points.

Blaize led all scorers with a career-high 28 points, including hitting on 7-9 from beyond the arc. Blaize also became the 31st player in program history to score 1,000 points at the 5:42 mark of the first half when he hit his fifth three-pointer of the game.

Aaron Cummings (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and Wagner also reached double-figures, scoring 19 points and 16 points respectively. Cummings added nine rebounds, while Mosby chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.

Adelphi returns to action when they take on host and top-seeded Stonehill College at 7:30 pm in the regional semifinal on Sunday, March 12.