Dec. 1, 2007

Box Score

Old Westbury, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team relinquished a 17-point second half lead as NYIT's Bryant Lassister went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final thirty seconds to lift the Bears to a 65-61 win over the Panthers. NYIT improves to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in the ECC, while the Panthers drop to 3-2 and 2-1 in league play.

In the first half, which featured nine lead changes and five ties, the Panthers were able to open up a 16-9 lead with a 9-2 run, sparked by four points from Richard Byrd, with 11 minutes remaining. The Bears got back into the game with a quick 6-0 spurt on back-to-back three pointers from senior Philip Jones and freshman Daniel Berg. The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch and Adelphi headed into halftime with a 29-27 lead.

Leading 34-31 with 17:07 on the clock in the second half, Adelphi would hold NYIT to just one field goal over the next five minutes while outscoring the Bears 17-3 to build a commanding 51-34 advantage at the 12:15 mark. The Panthers Chris Diasparra connected on three of his four second half three pointers during the scoring spree.

But the Bears wouldn't go away and slowly chipped away at Adelphi's lead. Senior Brian McFadden started a 9-1 run with four straight free throws and Jones added two layups around a Lassiter free throw to cut the deficit to single digits, 52-43 with 6:44 remaining. The Bears cut further into the lead with consecutive three pointers from senior Truman Montgomery and Lassiter, but a three from Adelphi's Alvin Vivican gave the Panthers an eight point cushion, 57-49, with 5:01 left in regulation.

NYIT responded behind four straight free throws, two from Berg and two from Lassiter, but a dunk from the Panthers Sky Kahleel made it a five point game, 59-54 at the 3:37 mark. The Bears defense would come up big, holding Adelphi scoreless over the next 3:33 and the offense would put together a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to complete the comeback.

Jones followed Kahleel's dunk with a three pointer to bring the Bears within two and after a Panther turnover on the next possession, junior Bryan Smothers tipped-in an offensive rebound to tie the game at 59-59. Lassiter gave the Bears their first lead of the second half with two free throws and after another Adelphi miss, Lassiter made two more to give the Bears a four-point cushion with :13 seconds to go.

Junior Sky Khaleel had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Panthers. Chris Diasparra had points, while Mike McDuffie pulled down a game-high 10 boards.

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, November 5 when they play host to Concordia College at 7:30 pm.