Garden City, N.Y. -- With a 44-point effort from Michael Coffey, the No. 4 SW Adelphi University men's basketball team defeated No. 5 NE Bentley University in the first round of the Northeast-10 playoffs Friday evening.

The Panthers (18-11) scored over 100 for just the sixth time this season, taking a 101-91 decision over the Falcons (14-13), and will advance to the quarterfinal round on Sunday, in which they will face Southern New Hampshire University, the top seeds from the Northeast Division.

With a new career-high, Coffey was one of four players to reach double-digits, as Connor McGuinness netted 25 of his own in addition to throwing out seven assists. Manny Suarez capped his double-double with a 16-point performance, pulling down 13 boards along the way as Jack Laffey rounded out the scoring with 11 points. Ryan Richmond matched Coffey in the points output, scoring a game-high 45 on 20-32 shooting.

Despite finding themselves in an early 7-2 hole, the Panthers committed a 13-2 run behind four straight three pointers out of the hand of Coffey to swing the game back in their favor. The Falcons managed to come within one at the 37-38 mark on a jumper from Ryan Richmond, who finished with 25 points in the first, but were kept at bay due to the hosts' 70 percent shooting from the field. Adelphi was 8-for-12 from beyond the arc, as Coffey matched his career-high of eight three-pointers made within the opening frame. 

Less than five minutes into the second half, Coffey was able set a new single-game school record for three-pointers made with his ninth, stretching the Adelphi lead to 15. He broke his previous record set earlier this season, which was also held by Wayne Nelson (2001), Kendell Craig (2002) and teammate Jack Laffey (2016). Nearly two minutes later, he smashed his career-high scoring record with his 39th point of the contest. 

Highlighted with buckets and assists from McGuinness, who scored 15 of his points in the second stanza, the higher seed maintained a double-figure lead throughout the second. Bentley managed to pull only to within 13 on several occasions, until Richmand hit the game's last three for the final margin of victory.  

"Everybody contributed in such a large fashion," commented Head Coach Dave Duke. "For us, everyone who was out there really stepped up and our bench did the same, making this win truly a team effort."

The Panthers will head north to Southern New Hampshire to take on the Northeast-10 reigning champions, the Penmen on Sunday, February 26. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 pm. 

NOTES
- This is the second time the program has made the conference tournament, and the first playoff win with Duke at the helm. 
- Coffey fell short of the program's all-time single game scoring mark of 52 points, held by Don Payne (vs. Pratt, 2/15/55).
- Richmon set a Bentley school record for single-game scoring in his effort.

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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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