Garden City, N.Y. – The men's basketball team finished off the regular season on Tuesday night and posted a 14-14, 11-11 NE-10 record which was good enough to finished as the #7 seed. Missing a first round bye, the Panthers will host the #10 Golden Knights of the College of Saint Rose on Friday night, March 1 at 7:30 pm in the Center for Recreation and Sport.
 
Starting the season off with a sluggish 3-8 record, Dominick Savino and the rest of the team rebounded by winning the next seven of nine which included a strong January performance that saw six wins, bringing their record back up to .500. However, the momentum would be halted in February as they split their final six contests to keep their wins and losses even at 14-14.
 
Panthers to Watch
Senior shooting guard, John Calarco has stepped up big for Adelphi down the home stretch. The New Rochelle, N.Y. native has scored in double digits in seven of his last 10 games and is averaging 13.4 ppg during that span. In the last two outings, he dropped 22 and 19 points respectively to lead the team. Bradley Simpson will also be a go-to player if the Panthers want to be successful. The 6-7 center is leading the team in rebounds per game (6.7) and is shooting 44.2 percent from the field. Simpson started in 27 out of 28 games and scored in double figures in all but eight of them. Another key to making it deep into the tournament will be the controlling the ball and running the offense in which freshman point guard Anthony Libroia will be tasked with. A product of Holy Cross High School, Libroia has the ability to sink shots from well behind the three-point line when his team needs, and he finds the open man to help create shots for the Panthers as proven by his team leading 84 assists.
 
Scouting St. Rose
The Golden Knights are led by Dominykas Milka who is averaging 18 ppg and is second in the nation in rebounds per game, averaging 11.8 per contest. In the previous two meetings, the center pulled down a total of 28 rebounds and chalked up 34 points to help his team come out on top in both outings. Tyler Sayre and Andre Pope are also posting 11.8 and 11.5 ppg and are dangerous threats from anywhere on the court with their ability to drive to the basket and shoot from outside.
 
Trends
The Albany, N.Y. based team lost six of their last nine games including their final regular season contest when they fell 60-59 at the University of New Haven in double overtime. Adelphi has won four of their last nine but lost to Southern Connecticut State in their regular season finale on the road, 70-57.
 
Third Time Is A Charm
This will be the third meeting between these two teams this season. They first met this year back on November 28, 2012 when St. Rose came away with the 84-68 win in Albany, N.Y. On February 13, the Panthers overcame a 10 point deficit in the second to force overtime, but lost on a successful buzzer beater attempt by the Golden Knights' Chris Dorgler.
 
All Time Series
St. Rose leads the all-time series, 21-7. Adelphi's last win over the Golden Knights came back on November 30, 2011 when they won by a score of 60-56. Two of the last four meetings have been decided by one point.
 
You can follow the game with live stats or catch all the action via webcast at www.aupanthers.tv.
 
Ticket prices are as follows: Adults-$8, Seniors and Children-$5, Students from the Northeast-10 with valid ID-$1.