Nov. 26, 2007

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team played host to East Coast Conference opponent St. Thomas Aquinas on November 26. The Panthers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to collect a 40-38 victory. The win raises Adelphi's record to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in ECC play, while the Spartans fall to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

The game got off to a slow start as niether team hit double digits until the 11:02 mark when Akeem Comas gave St. Thomas Aquinas a seven point edge, 11-4 on a made jumper. A Comas three-pointer at the 7:17 mark pushed the Spartan advantage to 10 points, 14-4, before the Panthers scored five straight points to pull within five, 14-9 with 5:43 to play in the half.

St. Thomas Aquinas responded with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to move out to their biggest lead of the half, 23-11 on a Terrance Portis three-point play. Adelphi cut the lead to eight, 25-17, on a Richard Byrd three-pointer with 44 seconds left but a Chris Williams jumper with 21 seconds to play in the half gave the Spartans a 27-17 halftime edge.

The first five minutes of the second half were back and forth as the Panthers managed to close the Spartan lead by just one, 31-22, with 15:16 on the clock. However, a Chris Diasparra jumper sparked a 9-2 Adelphi run that pulled the Panthers to within two, 33-31 with 11:44 left in regulation.

Diasparra capped the Panther run at the 8:58 mark when he gave Adelphi the lead, 34-33, on a made three-pointer. The Panthers took their largest lead of the half, 38-33 on a Byrd jumper with 4:57 to play, but it would get tight down the stretch as a Chris Williams lay-up with 56 seconds left cut Adelphi's edge to just one, 39-38. Chad Williams had a chance to put the Spartans ahead with 11 seconds left, but his jumper was off the mark and Mike McDuffie corraled the rebound effectively ending the threat.

Willis Kettrell led St. Thomas Aquinas with 11 points, while Portis chipped in nine. Jelani Winfield collected six rebounds in the loss.

Byrd led all scorers with a game-high 19 points and added seven rebounds, while McDuffie pulled down a career-high 18 boards. Sky Khaleel picked up 14 rebounds and Diasparra added nine points.