Springfield, Mass. - Unable to hold off the hot shooting of the home team, the Adelphi University men's basketball team dropped a 98-96 decision to American International College Saturday afternoon. 

Even with five players reaching double-digit points, the Panthers (3-7, 1-5 NE10) struggled to stop the 55-percent shooting from the field of the Yellow Jackets (5-4, 2-3 NE10). Michael Coffey put up a team-high 38 points, with the help of 10-13 free throw shooting as Austin Beech was perfect from the field contributing 14 points. Terrel Martin-Garcia was the lone player from the Adelphi squad with a double-double that featured 13 points and rebounds as Jack Laffey and Conor McGuinness rounded out the five with 12 and 10, respectively. 

The Brown and Gold worked up a nine-point advantage early in the contest, capped with a Nick Cambio lay in at 16:45. A 12-2 run over the next two minutes returned the upper hand to AIC, with the lead changing four more times over the remainder of the half. Adelphi's final lead quickly faded after the six-minute mark until a three-pointer from Beech brought the teams even again with a minute left to play. Tavon Ginyard drained a three of his own to end the opening frame with the visitors trailing by one. 

Coming out of the break, the Yellow Jackets pulled away to lead by at-most six, but back-to-back threes from Coffey and Beech made it a one-point contest. Appearances at the free throw line for both teams kept the matchup close throughout the second half and the teams were knotted at 93-all with 3:17 to play. Four straight points for AIC were answered with a Coffey trey that brought the Panthers within one, but one free throw for the home team was enough to seal the deal. 

Adelphi has a quick turnaround as they travel to take on the Golden Falcons of Felician College on Monday, December 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. 

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About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.

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