March 5, 2011

Photo Gallery

Box Score

Waltham, MA - The Adelphi University men's basketball team traveled to Waltham, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 5 to battle #1 Bentley University in the Northeast-10 Championship game. The #7 Panthers hit on half of their attempts from deep (8-16), stunning the top seeded Falcons, 78-72 and capturing the program's first Northeast-10 title. Adelphi is now 20-10 overall and has earned a spot in the NCAA Division II East Regional with the victory.

Tournament MVP Richard Byrd led the Panthers with 27 points, five assists and three rebounds and is now just two points shy of 2,000 career points. Richard Harkins and Robert Johnson used economical shooting to get to double digits as Harkins was 4-7 for 14 points, while Johnson was 5-7 for 12 points. Senior and All-Tournament honoree David Akinyooye chipped in 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The first half was a back and forth affair, as no one could take more then a four point lead. There were three ties in the last four and a half minutes, with the final knot coming on a Falcon jumper with 93 seconds left. The Panthers would convert three of four free throw attempts in the final minute to take a 32-29 edge into the intermission.

Adelphi controlled the action in the first nine minutes of the second act, outscoring Bentley 20-14 and claiming their largest lead of the game, 52-43 on an Akinyooye jumper with 11:03 remaining. Bentley countered with a 15-6 run that knotted the score at 58 with 6:27 on the clock.

From there it was nip and tuck, as the game would be tied three more times in the next four minutes, the final tie came at 65-all with 2:18 on the clock. A Byrd three-point play would break the tie and give Adelphi a 68-65 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way. The Panthers were also 7-8 from the charity stripe in the final 34 seconds, preserving the 78-72 win.

With the win the Panthers avenged last year's NE-10 Championship game loss, winning a conference title in just their second year in the league. Adelphi also returns to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season and are now 7-1 in Northeast-10 tournament play.

To find out who the Panthers will face in the first-round of the NCAA Division II East Regional log on to www.ncaa.com at 10:00 pm on Sunday, March 6 to watch the selection show live.