March 6, 2010

Box Score

Lowell, MA - The Adelphi University men's basketball saw its conference championship dreams dashed as they fell to #7 UMass-Lowell, 73-58, this afternoon at Costello Athletic Center in the Northeast-10 finals. The Riverhawks improve to 20-11 to earn the automatic NCAA berth, while the Panthers fall to 22-11 and must await the at-large decision.

It was a tale of two halves, with Adelphi controlling the first 20 minutes of play. The Panthers shot 44.4 % percent from the field, while the Riverhawks connected on just 6-of-26 (23.1%). However, what kept the game close was the fact that UMass-Lowell went to the line 16 times, compared with just three for Adelphi in the opening stanza.

The Panthers opened on a 8-3 run capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Robert Johnson at 18:07. The Riverhawks closed the gap to one point, 8-7, 16:46, before senior Steffon Farley stuffed his second dunk to spark a 6-0 run, 14-8, through the 12 minute mark. Adelphi realized its largest lead, 20-11, on a David Akinyooye jumper with 9:05 to go. UMass-Lowell rattled off nine unanswered points to knot the score at 20 on a Kevin Carr three-pointer at 4:34. The Panthers pushed the lead back out to four, 27-23, on a Norron McDonald layup, but the Riverhawks managed to take the lead with 47 seconds to go. Akinyooye put AU back on top as they took a slim 29-28 lead into the lockerroom at intermission.

After two ties and two lead changes in the opening minutes of the second half, Lowell took the lead on a 6-0 run, 39-33, at 17:21. The Panthers trailed by as much as seven points, 47-49, with 12:04 remaining but managed to chip away at the deficit. Senior Casey Cosgrove's trifecta at 7:33 put AU back on top, 50-49, but it would be short-lived. The Riverhawks, who shot 60.9% from the field, compared with 26.7% for the Panthers, closed on a 24-8 run to capture the victory.

Adelphi was led by Johnson with 13 points, followed by senior Chris Diasparra with 11 points. Farley and Akinyooye each had 10 points.

Scott Tavares-Taylor led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Kyle Caiola with 18 points for UMass-Lowell.

Adelphi won four of its last five contests, including knocking off top-seeded Stonehill, to advance to the conference championship in just its first year in the new league. The Panthers must now wait for Sunday night's NCAA selection show to find out if they will play in the Northeast Regional Tournament.