Worcester, Mass. -- After dropping its last two Northeast-10 Conference games, the Adelphi University men's basketball team rebounded in a big way on Saturday, as five players scored in double figures to lead the Panthers to an 83-73 road win at Assumption College.
Freshman
Austin Beech was Adelphi's (15-7, 8-6 NE10) high scorer on the afternoon, chipping in 18 points, five assists and two blocks off the bench in just 29 minutes.
Manny Suarez shot 8-14 from the field en route to 17 points, while
Chris Millender posted a double-double behind 16 points and 10 rebounds for an Adelphi team that was tied for first in the nation in team double-doubles heading into play. Rounding out Adelphi's scorers were
Jack Laffey and
Michael Coffey, who chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, as they made four of Adelphi's six three-pointers in the game. Assumption (5-15, 4-10 NE10) was led in defeat by a near double-double of 20 points and nine rebounds from Damien Rance.
The Hounds and Panthers were tied 8-8 early in the first, before nine straight points, thanks in part to triples from Coffey and Suarez, gave Adelphi a 17-8 lead at 12:12. The run expanded to 16-5 as the visitors extended their lead to 24-13, with a Beech layup with 8:15 remaining giving the Brown and Gold a double-digit lead for the first time on the afternoon. However, 15-4 run by Assumption over nearly four minutes of action tied up the game with 4:44 left in the half on a layup by Declan Soukup, before a Rance three gave the hosts the lead, 31-30 with 4:15 on the clock. The teams then traded baskets over the final three minutes of the period, with Rance making one of two at the line with 31 ticks on the clock to tie the game once more at 38-38, before Laffey's final attempt from deep fell short to close the half.
Over the first four minutes of the second half, Assumption's lead grew to a game-high six at 48-42, but a 9-2 Adelphi run, featuring three buckets from Millender and a trey from
Conor McGuinness gave the visitors the lead back at 51-50. As the action went back and forth from there, the Panthers were able to use another run, this time to the tune of 12 straight points, to wrestle away control of the game at the midway point, and make it 73-60 with 5:46 remaining. The Hounds cut the lead to nine twice in the ensuing minutes, but were unable to get closer as Adelphi came away with the NE10 victory.
The Panthers return to action at home on Wednesday night, as they welcome the Pace Setters to the Center for Recreation and Sport at 7:30 pm on Feb. 1.
NOTES
- Millender's double-double gives Adelphi 20 team double-doubles for the season.
- Adelphi currently holds sole possession of fourth place in the Southwest Division, two games ahead of New Haven.
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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