Rindge, N.H. - Despite a competitive first half, the Adelphi University men's basketball team was nipped late in its upset bid on the road against the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University on Saturday afternoon, 80-72.
Tavon Ginyard led Adelphi in scoring for the sixth time this season and third time in the past six games as he sank four threes to contribute to 18 points off the bench in 21 minutes.
Michael Coffey added 12 points to the Adelphi cause, while
Terrel Martin-Garcia added 10 points and a pair of blocked shots.
Adelphi (6-14, 2-10 NE10) scored the first five points of the contest and was able to wrestle away the lead from the host Ravens briefly to begin the second half as Ginyard provided a spark with a three, but the Brown and Gold only managed to lead for just over five minutes overall in the contest.
A 14-5 run for the home team put distance between the Ravens and Panthers at the midway point of the second half, and though they managed to whittle the deficit to as few as two with just 2:22 to play, the Panthers did not post a point on the board for the duration of the game to fall short.
It was a tale of two halves for both teams, as Franklin Pierce led by just one possession at the break at 40-37. The home team shot 17-for-36 over the first 20 minutes, and Adelphi stayed in touch thanks in part to a 8-for-15 effort from distance and an overall shooting percentage of 46 percent.
However, Franklin Pierce upped it offense to a 14-for-25 clip in the second half (56%) and the Panthers were unable to match them, shooting just over 35 percent and committing five of its 13 turnovers in the game. The Ravens staved off Adelphi's upset effort thanks to a dominating night in the paint, where they outscored Adelphi 38-20 - including 20-8 in the first half - out-rebounded Adelphi 38-31 and blocked five shots.
For the Ravens (10-7, 5-7 NE10), Asante Sandiford scored a game-high 20 on 6-for-10 shooting and four triples of his own, while Doyin Fadojutimi and Mike McDevitt chipped in 19 and 12, respectively.
Adelphi returns home to kick off the spring semester on Tuesday, Jan. 23, when it hosts Southern New Hampshire in a 7:30 p.m. NE10 contest. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free t-shirt, and in partnership with the Student Activities' Board, the team will host a Welcome Back Bash with free food, and the announcement of the annual Spring Concert artist at halftime.
In addition, the 2017 women's lacrosse national champions will be honored with a ceremony in which they will receive their national championship rings.
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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