Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. – Earlier this afternoon, the #2 men's basketball team played host to the #10 seeded Chargers of the University of New Haven in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament. After a sluggish first half on both accounts, each side ramped up the intensity and doubled the amount of points they netted in the second half. Adelphi's 21 made free throws proved to be the game changer as they made seven of their final eight attempts in the last three minutes to compliment gutsy and timely baskets by senior Richard Harkins and close the curtains on New Haven's season, 54-51. With the win, Adelphi reaches the 20 win summit (20-7) while the Chargers wrap up their season with a mark of 14-13.
 
Harkins was the game high scorer, netting 15 points, all of which came in the second half, on 4-9 shooting from the field and going a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.  He also had seven boards, three assists and one steal. Bradley Simpson was a perfect 5-5 from the field which included a made trey and going 3-4 from the foul line for 14 points to go along with his seven boards. Robert Johnson struggled early but his 11 points were earned mostly from the foul line, sinking 7-8 attempts.
 
Defensively, the Panthers out-rebounded the visitors 34-32 and held them to just 34 percent shooting from the field. They caused 11 turnovers and had six blocks, three of which came from Duane Morgan. Adelphi struggled from the field, shooting just .357 and connecting on just 3-15 from behind the arc, but shot 75 percent from the charity stripe.
 
For New Haven, Jeffery Adkins Jr. led the way with 12 points and five rebounds while Justin Exum and Eric Anderson each chipped in with 10 points apiece and combined for 11 boards. The Chargers shot 34 percent from the field, 30.4 percent from the three point line, and 72.7 percent from the foul line.
 
A slow, sluggish start characterized the opening 20 minutes with both teams combining for 11-49 shooting. New Haven scored eight points in the first 5:50 of the game and held the Panthers scoreless for the first 6:50 until Simpson ended the drought with a trey.
 
A Norron McDonald layup at the 5:28 mark gave his team their first lead of the game, but it was short lived as Ashanti DePass and Exum made two free throws each put New Haven back on top. Chris Ranglin drew a foul with 1.8 seconds left and split his tries from the line to send Adelphi into halftime up 18-17.
 
Things got interesting in the second half as each team came out cold once again, scoring just a combine 13 points over the initial four and a half minutes. At the 12:07 mark New Haven found themselves up by six points, their largest lead of the contest, courtesy of a three ball from Exum.
 
However, over the final 7:50, it was the Harkins show as he erupted and gave the Panthers the boost they needed and accounted for 13 of their final 25 points. After his layup, he dished to Simpson who nailed his fourth straight jumper to tie the game at 33. A Harkins steal resulted in another two points by Johnson to put Adelphi up by four with just under five minutes to go.
 
A huge three by Harkins with just 57 seconds left gave the Panthers a five point cushion and forced New Haven to resort to fouling. Ranglin, Johnson and Harkins combine for 5-6 from the foul line in the final 34 seconds to ultimately ice the game.
 
Adelphi advances to the Northeast-10 semifinal round where they will host the Skyhawks of Stonehill College on Wednesday, February 29 at 7:00 pm.