Garden City, NY – A last second shot to cap off a final minute comeback was not to be as the Adelphi University fell to visiting Merrimack 74-72 earlier today inside the Center for Recreation and Sport during a Northeast-10 Conference contest.
 
A jumper from Ryan DeNicola in the final second fell short after the Panthers (4-14/1-11 NE-10) almost rallied from a six-point deficit in the final two minutes. Damon Coleman cut the lead in half with a three-pointer under a minute left followed up by Duane Morgan coming up with a steal with 10 seconds left. Morgan hit one free throw after intentional foul that later set up the attempt from DeNicola.
 
Morgan finished with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for the "double-double" and leading four Panthers in double-figures. Damon Coleman went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc towards 18 points as Adelphi shot an overall 14-for-30 (46.7) from long-range.
 
Merrimack (10-7/5-7 NE-10) also had four players score in double-figures with Kyle Howes registering 17 points along with nine rebounds. JT Strickland contributed 16 points, five rebounds, three steals, and a like number of assists. The Warriors outscored the Brown and Gold 34-18 in the paint.
 
Adelphi jumped out to a 17-point lead with 5:55 left in the opening period by shooting 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field, including 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from 3-point range. Justin Jenkins came off the bench to score 10 points and help afford a 42-37 halftime advantage.

The Panthers an early second half lead of 10 points after a Coleman 3-pointer to make the scoreboard read 51-41. The Warriors then quickly put forth a 10-0 run capped off by a JT Strickland with 13:47 remaining to even the score. Two free throws from James Kennedy gave Merrimack its largest lead of the game before the Panthers created a last effort run.

Adelphi is back in action this Tuesday when Franklin Pierce makes the trip to Garden City for a 7:30 pm conference tilt.