Feb. 28, 2011

Box Score

Springfield, MA - The seventh seeded Adelphi University men's basketball team traveled to #2 AIC on Monday, February 28 to participate in a Northeast-10 quarterfinal contest in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Panthers led by one at halftime and held the Yellowjackets to just 20 second half points, hanging on for a 55-52 victory.

The Panthers, who handed the Yellow Jackets a 69-63 loss just nine days ago, improved to 18-10 and will travel to sixth-seeded UMass Lowell for a 7:00 pm semifinal contest Thursday night, March 3. AIC is now 20-8 and will see if its season continues Sunday night when the NCAA selection show airs live at 10:00 pm on NCAA.com.

Senior forward David Akinyooye scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Adelphi. Sophomore guard Chris Ranglin netted 12 points with five rebounds and two steals, while junior guard Robert Johnson tallied 11 points, three rebounds and three steals in the win.

Neither team led by more than six in the game, which featured six lead changes and five ties. AIC trailed 33-32 at the half and opened the second frame with a 6-2 spurt to take a brief 38-35 lead, but the Panthers answered with a 7-0 run, that featured back-to-back three-pointers from Akinyooye and Richard Byrd, to regain the lead for good, 42-38 with 12:48 left in the game.

The Yellow Jackets kept the game close and had several chanced to draw even or pull ahead in the closing minutes, including pulling to within one point, 53-52 on an Adrian Hynes-Guery layup with 21 ticks on the clock. However, Richard Byrd answered with two made free throws after being fouled four seconds later for the 55-52 final.

The Panther win was the first for a road team in Butova Gymnasium during the 2010-11 season. The last visitor to come away with a victory was Adelphi, on February 27, 2010, 57-45, knocking AIC out of the Northeast-10 playoffs.