Feb. 13, 2008

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team played host to Mercy College on Wednesday, February 13. Adelphi could not overcome a hot shooting night for Mercy, who hit 52 percent of their shots, picking up a 59-56 win. The loss drops Adelphi to 13-9 overall and 9-6 in East Coast Conference (ECC) play, while Mercy improves to 7-16 overall and 6-10 in the conference.

Adelphi controlled the action in the first 15 minutes of the opening half, building a 21-13 lead, that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Richard Byrd and Alvin Vivican. From there Mercy rallied to tie the game on three occasions before a Chanze Wellington three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Mavericks a 28-27 point lead heading into the half.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 7-1 spurt to take back the lead and build a five-point edge, 34-29, on a Byrd three-point play with 17:25 to play. Mercy answered back by unleashing a 21-7 run that gave the Mavericks a nine point cushion, 51-40, with 10:31 to play.

Adelphi battled back over the next nine minutes pulling within four points on two occasions before a Vivican three-pointer with 1:05 left in the game cut Mercy's lead to just three. In the final minute both Byrd and Luptowski had good looks but could not finish as Mercy came away with the win.

Chanze Wellington led Mercy with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Vince Johnson added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Byrd led all scorers with 23 points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Vivican also reached double-figures, scoring 14 points, while Sky Khaleel chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, February 16 when they host New Haven at 3:00 pm in Woodruff Hall.