Jan. 17, 2009

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team played host to East Coast Conference foe Mercy College on Saturday, January 17. The Panthers shot 53 percent in the first half, building a 47-20 halftime edge on the way to a 89-47 win. With the victory Adelphi improves to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference, while Mercy falls to 0-14 and 0-5 in the ECC.

Adelphi jumped on Mercy from the tip, opening the action with a 13-3 run in the first six minutes of action. Mercy cut the margin to just five with a 7-2 run, but Adelphi blew the game wide open with a 12-2 that was capped by a Richard Byrd triple and gave the Panthers a 15 point lead, 27-12.

The Panthers kept the pressure up, extending the lead to 20 points, 39-19, on an Alvin Vivican jumper with 3:41 left and taking the largest lead of the half, 47-20 on two Vivican free throws with six seconds on the clock.

The second half was more of the same as the Panthers pushed the lead to 38, 61-23, just 5:20 into play, thanks in part to five points from Byrd. Adelphi pushed the margin to 40 points, 81-40, with 4:02 remaining courtesy of an Arjan Perovic lay-up and a Richard Harkins triple with 1:32 left gave Adelphi a 89-47 win.

Justin McMullen led the way for Mercy with 11 points and four rebounds, while Michael Marin managed 10 points.

Byrd led three players in double figures with 20 points and four rebounds, while David Akinyooye added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Alvin Vivican poured in 19. Casey Cosgrove handed out a career-high 13 assists in the win, while pulling down eight misses and picking up two steals.

Adelphi returns to action on Wednesday, January 21 when they travel to Oakdale, New York for a 7:00 pm meeting with Dowling College.