Garden City, N.Y. – A late comeback was not in the cards tonight for the Adelphi University men's basketball team as the Brown and Gold fell 90-80 in the Northeast-10 Conference and home opener to Southern Connecticut State.

Anthony Libroia led the Panthers with 22 points to go along with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Manny Suarez added a "double-double" of 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two blocks and two steals while Ryan DeNicola added a game-high of 13 rebounds.

Michael Mallory poured in a game-high of 28 points for the Owls while Desmond Williams notched a "double-double" of 18 points and 12 rebounds combined with six assists and three steals. Austin Carter added 13 points and eight rebounds from the starting five.

After the visiting Owls created an eight-point advantage at 26-18 on a layup from Joey Wallace, the Brown and Gold jumped back to tie the game at 32-32 five minutes later on a 3-pointer from Justin Jenkins. A 9-4 run to end the half helped Southern Connecticut to go into the half with a 41-36 lead.

Williams led all scorers with 12 points in the first 20 minutes to go along with five rebounds while Carter connected three, 3-pointers for all nine of his points.

Meanwhile for Adelphi, Libroia led the squad with 10 points to go with four assists and three rebounds while DeNicola and Suarez combined for 14 rebounds. Both teams connected for five, 3-pointers in the period.

After the Panthers claimed a 42-41 lead on a Manny Suarez trey from the top of the arc, the Owls ran out to a 12-0 spurt to force an Adelphi timeout with 15:58 left in with a 53-42 lead. A jumper a few possessions later from Williams grew the lead to 58-44 before Conor McGuinness hit a three to bring it to 58-47.

The Brown and Gold were able to cut the lead to three points with 3:58 left after two free throws from Libroia to make it 76-73. However, free throws opportunities for the Owls helped push the lead back up to 12 with less than thirty seconds remaining as Southern Connecticut closed out the road win.  

Looking ahead, the Panthers travel to Springfield, Mass. this weekend to face NE-10 rival American International.

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About Adelphi University Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 20 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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