Garden City, N.Y. - Coming off a home overtime victory against the College of Saint Rose, the Adelphi University men's basketball team suffered an 87-83 loss to Pace University in their second to last regular season home game Wednesday evening.
Even with five different players in double-figures, the Panthers (18-8, 11-6 NE10) dropped the Southwest Division contest to the Setters (17-9, 9-8), led by
Spencer Foley who poured in 20 points on 7-15 shooting from the field.
Ronnie Silva,
Chris Coalmon and
Austin Beech all chipped in 13 points apiece, as the latter wrapped up his stat line with a double-double, pulling down 13 boards.
Pace's offense was led by Peyton Wejnert, the league's leading scorer, who accounted for 31 points while also completing the double-double with 14 rebounds, marking the 11th time this season of the feat.
Adelphi had no trouble getting off to a hot start, as they led by double-figures after the opening six minutes of action. Seven unanswered points in favor of the home team allowed them to jump out to a 15-point advantage, on several occasions, even closing out the half with the same lead, courtesy of three straight free throws from Foley after being fouled with 1.7 seconds left on the clock.
The visiting team used a 29-11 stretch to open the second half swinging Pace's lead to three at the 9:01 mark. From there, it was a back-and-forth battle to the finish. Foley answered a Cohen three-pointer with a tre of his own with under three minutes left in regulation, but even with a layup from
Dwaine Williams off the bench to keep the lead at three, the Setters stormed down the court to rattle home a shot from beyond the mark to knot the game at 70-all.
In extra time, Cohen sparked the visiting team, knocking down a trio of three-pointers in extra time, with the final one lifting Pace to an 81-77 lead at the 1:38 mark. Adelphi's late attempts at the basket continued to miss the mark as the Setters rallied at the free throw line to stave off the home team.
With the loss, the Brown and Gold still sit second in the Southwest Division ahead of the final two games in the regular season. On Saturday, Feb. 22, they will travel to the University of New Haven for a rematch of an earlier overtime victory this season, tipping off at 3:30 p.m.
