Jan. 8, 2009

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team played host to the University of Bridgeport on Thursday, January 8 in an East Coast Conference clash. The Panthers got 23 points and 11 rebounds from Richard Byrd in a 69-63 victory. With the win Adelphi improves to 8-4 and 2-1 in the ECC, while Bridgeport falls to 7-4 and 1-2 in conference action.

For the first eight minutes of play Adelphi and Bridgeport traded the lead, as the Purple Knights knotted the game at 12 on a Steve Martin three pointer with 11:23 left in the half. Steffon Farley answered less then a minute later with a dunk, sparking a 10-1 run that was capped by a Sky Khaleel lay-up, giving the Panthers a 22-13 edge with 6:11 on the clock.

A Byrd free throw with 3:06 remaining pushed Adelphi's lead to 11, 28-17, which is how the Panthers would end the half, thanks to a Casey Cosgrove jumper with two seconds on the clock that made the game 32-21.

Bridgeport came out of halftime on fire, ripping off a 12-4 run over the first 4:35 of play to pull within three points, 36-33. Adelphi countered with a 10-3 spurt capped by a Byrd jumper that pushed the Panther cushion back to double digits at 46-36.

Adelphi's lead remained 10 points, 60-50, with 4:18 left in the game, but a Purple Knight 6-0 run would cut the margin to just four points, 60-56, with 1:54 on the clock. However the Panthers would make 9 of 12 attempts over the final minutes of play to secure a 69-63 win.

Teairez Stennis led the way for Bridgeport with 21 points and six rebounds, while Steve Martin added 11.

Byrd's 23 points led all players as did his 11 rebounds. Cosgrove also filled up the stat sheet, scoring 13 points, pulling down seven rebounds and handing out six assists. Both Alvin Vivican and Farley chipped in nine points in the win.

Adelphi returns to action on Saturday, January 10 when they travel to Sparkill, New York for a 3:00 pm meeting with St. Thomas Aquinas.