Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. – On Sunday afternoon, the men's basketball team hosted the Lions of Lincoln University (Pa.) in a non-conference contest at the Center for Recreation and Sport. Despite holding a five point lead at the half, the Panthers were crippled by hot second-half Lincoln shooting and were unable to finish a last minute comeback. With the loss, the Brown and Gold slip to 1-6 overall while Lincoln advances to 7-1.
 
For the Panthers, Damon Coleman and Duane Morgan led the way with 15 points apiece on a combined 9-19 shooting from the field. Sophomore Ryan DeNicola was an efficient 6-7 shooting from the floor with 12 points to couple his team-high six boards. As a team, Adelphi shot 52.2 percent from the field and had an impressive five blocks in the loss.
 
The Panthers allowed a first possession triple by Tony Efese but quickly pulled even with Lincoln thanks to a layup and made free throw from Coleman. At the 16:51 mark, the Lions held a 5-3 advantage, but it would be the last time they would hold the upper hand throughout the duration of the half. Over the ensuing five minutes, it was a one point game on five separate occasions, but a 10-2 run bookmarked by layups from DeNicola made it 24-15 in favor of Adelphi.
 
The Panthers held at least a five point advantage through the 2:08 mark but was cut to three thanks to Lincoln's Derrick Washington as he connected on a lay in. On the other end of the court, a tough offensive rebound followed by a strong put back by Morgan gave Adelphi a five-point cushion heading into halftime.
 
Momentum shifted in the second half to favor the guests while 10 second half turnovers haunted the Panthers down the stretch. Washington nailed a triple to open the half which sparked a 5-0 run, giving the Lions their first lead since the 16:51 mark in the first. The guard sank his first three attempts from the floor and went 4-5 from the field in the opening 5:52 to help his team gain the lead.
 
Back-to-back free throws from Boris Fodouop brought both teams even at 39 apiece with 14:31 showing on the clock, but a crippling 15-2 Lincoln run ensued over the next 4:33. Aided by four straight Panther turnovers and coupled by an 8-9 Lion shooting exhibition from the floor, Lincoln put the score at 54-41 with just over 10 minutes left to play.
 
Down by as much as 14 points at the 5:20 mark, the Brown and Gold quickly began chopping away at the double digit deficit. Four points from DeNicola and Morgan and a big triple from Greg Davis saw the Panthers down by just five points with 27 seconds left in the game. However, Lincoln made six of their final eight attempts from the charity stripe in the last minute of the game to hold off the last minute charge.
 
Up Next
The Panthers will be back in action on Thursday, December 19 for a non-conference contest against Nyack College at 7pm. A live webcast will be available and can be found here.