Garden City, N.Y. - After staging a second half comeback, the Adelphi University men's basketball team polished off an 84-74 win over Pace University on Wednesday evening in its home opener.
Dwaine Williams put on a show in his first career contest at the Center for Recreation and Sport for the Panthers (3-0, 1-0 NE10), dropping a career-high 25 points behind 9-13 shooting from the field. Also reaching double figures was fellow rookie
Ronnie Silva, who contributed 19, as the two went a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line.
For the Setters (1-2, 0-1 NE10), Brandon Jacobs had a team-best 26 points, adding five assists and two steals.
Dejavaugh Utley capped a 13-2 run for the home team with a three-pointer of his own to push Adelphi out to just under a double-figure lead early on. Nonetheles, Pace responded with 10 unanswered points to establish their first advantage of the game, and maintained the upper hand with several stretches of points as the clock continued to wind down.
The Brown and Gold managed to find themselves trailing by seven at halftime, as the visitors shot nearly fifty percent from the field - with 19 first half points from Jacobs.
The Setters worked their way out to a double-digit lead coming out of the break, however a shot from beyond the arc courtesy of Silva sparked a 12-point run from the hosts to put them back on top. Mid way through the half the teams went back-and-forth with the help of 9-for-11 shooting from the charity stripe for Adelphi, as four different players were perfect at the line.
As a result, the Panthers outscored their opponents 54-37 in the second half alone, with all of Williams's 25 points coming in that time frame alongside of 16 points off the bench from Silva.
Both Adelphi basketball programs tip-off at the University of New Haven on Saturday, Nov. 17. The men's game is set for 3:30 p.m. following the women's contest at Charger Gymnasium.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past nine seasons, has collected 28 regular season conference titles, 30 tournament championships, 41 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.
For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.
