Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University men's basketball team built what looked like an insurmountable 19 point second half lead, but visiting Molloy College (3-4) rallied to take a two-point lead late, while two Manny Suarez free throws forced overtime, where the Panthers would eventually run out of momentum, falling 109-102 tonight, December 1 in a non-conference clash. 

Both Suarez and Michael Coffey poured in a team-high 32 points, and Jack Laffey wasn't too far behind for Adelphi (6-2) chipping in 21. Suarez added a career-high tying 17 rebounds to his career-high point output, and Chris Millender joined in double digits, grabbing 10 misses, while Conor McGuinness led all players with a game-high 12 helpers. 

Both teams had some trouble finding their rhythm in the early going and the Lions took a one point lead on a Josh Dennis lay-up with 16:05 to play in the first, 10-9. Adelphi's Laffey responded  just 17 seconds later with a triple off of a Coffey feed to give the Panthers back the lead and sparked a 21-2 run that lasted the next six minutes and was capped by an Austin Beech lay-up, putting the Brown and Gold on top, 30-12.

Four minutes later Adelphi took their largest lead of the first stanza, 41-19, on a Suarez jumper in the paint with 6:14 to play. However, Molloy showed signs of life late, outscoring the Panthers 19-7 over the final six minutes, including getting 10 of Charlie Marquardt's game-high 33 points, to trim the Brown and Gold bulge to 10 at the intermission, 48-38.

The Lions momentum continued after the half, with Molloy cutting Adelphi's advantage to single digits three times in the first 10 minutes of action, including on a Derrick Okunpolor made free with 10:28 to play, 66-57. However, the Panthers answered the bell one more time, using a 12-2 spurt over the next three minutes, that was fueled by seven Suarez points, to seemingly put a strangle hold on the contest, 78-59. 

A Marquardt three-pointer put an end to Molloy's drought and kicked off a 25-6, binge that tied the game for only the second time on a Jaylen Morris lay-up with 1:41 on the game clock. Molloy took the lead for the first time since four minutes into the game on a Marquardt free throw, 85-84. Suarez responded with two made free-throws, retaking the lead for the Panthers, but a Mike Torre triple with 72 ticks left put the Lions back on top by two, 88-86.

The Suarez free throw parade continued with 33 seconds left, he made eight straight in the final four minutes, knotting the game at 88. A Morris jumper from 15 feet away missed its mark and Laffey gobbled up the miss, forcing an extra session, 88-88.

Molloy opened the bonus period quickly thanks to a long jumper from Marquardt, but a Coffey triple. his sixth of the game, put Adelphi back on top, 91-90 at the 4:22 mark. Unfortunately for the Panthers it was their final lead of the contest, as the Lions hot shooting, they were 7-10 from the field and 6-6 from the line in overtime, wsa too much for Adelphi to overcome, 109-102.

Up Next:
Adelphi will return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 3 when they travel North for a 2:00 pm meeting with Northeast-10 opponent Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

Notes:
- This is the first time in program history that Adelphi has scored 100 points or more in three straight games (108-78 Queens, 104-64 Salem Int'l, 102-109 Molloy).
- This is only the fourth time that both teams have eclipsed the 100 point mark in program history and all four games have gone to overtime. The first two times were both Adelphi wins (2/2/90 - W - Buffalo - 102-100  and 12/1/94 - W - Molloy - 103-102) and the last two have ended in losses for the Panthers (2/28/16 - L - Stonehill - 103-101).
- Adelphi is the only school in the Northeast-10 that currently has a player among the top-two in the conference in each of the three major statistical categories, points per game - Michael Coffey, 2nd - 23.4, rebounds per game - Manny Suarez, 2nd - 10.6, and assists per game - Conor McGuinness, 1st - 8.0. 
 

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 20 regular season conference titles, 24 tournament championships, 29 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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