March 12, 2006

Box Score

Easton, MA - The Adelphi men's basketball team trailed #1 Stonehill, 28-26, at the half but were out shot (57 percent - 46 percent) and out scored (41-28) in the second half, falling 69-54, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional. With the loss the fifth seeded Panthers close out their season with a record of 27-5, while the Skyhawks take a record of 25-6 into the regional final against #6 UMASS-Lowell.

Stonehill won the opening tip and sprinted out to an 8-0 lead on the strength of six points from Marquis Taylor. The Panthers stemmed the bleeding momentarily with three free throws from Kimani Blaize, before Stonehill added another bucket to push their advantage to 10-3 with 17:56 to play in the first half.

Then Adelphi turned up the defense, holding Stonehill scoreless for the next 8:23, while reeling off 14 straight points to take a 17-10 edge with 9:33 remaining in the first half. The Skyhawks responded with eight unanswered points to reclaim the lead 18-17 at the 8:17 mark.

But the Panthers would not back down, answering back with five straight points to retake the lead 22-18 with 7:52 on the clock. Then Stonehill found their shooting touch, while Adelphi went cold. The Skyhawks moved out to a 28-22 lead using a 10-4 run that included back-to-back three pointers from Taylor and Nick Smith.

Adelphi notched up the defensive pressure one more time, holding Stonehill scoreless for the final 2:35 and getting two jumpers from Ben Kenyon to enter the locker room trailing by just two points, 28-26.

The momentum swung back to Stonehill as the Skyhawks opened the second half with a 12-2 run to extend what was a two-point lead at halftime to a 12 point bulge, 40-28, with 15:38 remaining in the game. The Panthers battled back, scoring four quick points to cut the Stonehill advantage to single digits, 40-32, on a Blaize jumper with 13:59 on the clock.

The Skyhawks responded to the threat to their lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Soap Toun to push their edge to 14 points with 12:54 left in the game. From there Adelphi and Stonehill traded baskets, with the Panthers unable to cut the Skyhawk advantage to less than 12 points until the 3:56 mark, when two Aaron Cummings free throws pulled Adelphi within 10 points, 56-46.

Stonehill pushed the lead back to 13 points on a lay-up and made free throw by Taylor, but the Panthers would not quit, cutting the Stonehill advantage to nine on two separate occasions before finally falling, 69-54.

"We did not get it done on the defensive end, we outscored Bentley last night but we knew we could not rely on that," Head Coach James Cosgrove stated. "But I could not be more proud of these guys, its tough to lose but it was a great ride."