Colchester, Vt. -- A balanced offensive attack saw the Adelphi University men's basketball team get back to its winning ways on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers defeated the Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College on the road, 89-77.
Six of the seven players to take the court for the Panthers (12-4, 5-3 NE10) scored at least 10 points, with
Jack Laffey and
Michael Coffey shooting a combined 11-22 from the field for 19 and 18, respectively. Chipping in 11 points each out of the starting lineup were
Chris Millender and
Manny Suarez, while
Conor McGuinness scored 10, dished out six assists and pulled down five rebounds to fill his stat line. Rounding out Adelphi's offensive attack was
Nick Cambio, who scored a career-high 13 points off the bench with six rebounds in just 16 minutes. Matt Bonds scored a game-high 35 points for the Purple Knights (2-12, 1-8 NE10) and pulled down 11 rebounds.Â
Suarez scored the first five points of the game, and his run extended to seven to give Adelphi a 7-4 lead early. Back-to-back threes from Laffey and Coffey opened Adelphi's lead to 11 points nearly seven minutes in at 19-8, and the visitors' double-figure lead remained for the duration of the half. An 8-0 spurt midway through the frame opened the lead to 19, as Laffey sank another three to make it a 33-14 game with 7:41 to go until halftime.Â
McGuinness sank a pair of threes on consecutive possessions to make it a 20-point game with under five to play, as he scored eight straight points in 1:33 to generate Adelphi's largest lead of 22 at 43-31 with 4:22 to play. A Cambio make from behind the arc again put Adelphi at that margin, but the Purple Knights scored the last seven points of the half to make it a 50-35 game at the break.Â
An 8-0 run to start the second for Adelphi stopped the momentum that Saint Michael's brought into the locker room, but the Purple Knights responded with a 7-0 sprint of their own to keep pace early. Two three-point plays for Laffey, one on a layup and one and the second on a make from behind the arc pushed Adelphi's lead back over 20 points, 73-52, with 10:05 to play, before a 9-0 run for the hosts made the game as close as it'd been since the early action, 75-64 with 6:47 to go.
The late push from the Purple Knights was not enough, though, as the Panthers managed to keep the hosts at bay in the final minutes, not allowing them to draw closer than 10 points for the remainder of the game.
The Panthers are back in action at home on Wednesday, Jan. 11 when they play host to the Falcons of Bentley University in a 7:30 NE10 contest.Â
NOTES
- Cambio's previous career high in scoring was a 10-point effort vs. Concordia on 12/18/15.
- Coffey currently ranks third in the NE10 in scoring with 20.9 points per game, while Suarez ranks third in rebounds per game with 9.1.
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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