Garden City, N.Y. - It was a career-night for
Dayshaun Walton inside the Center for Recreation and Sports, but the Adelphi University men's basketball team was unable to close out a victory on Wednesday, suffering an 82-79 loss to Pace University in its first game of 2023.
In a game that saw Adelphi (6-9, 0-7 NE10) leading by 10 with 4:26 in regulation, the Setters (12-3, 4-3 NE10) forced an overtime period after a three-point jumper from Brandon Powell knotted the game at 68-all, with a narrow three point victory through extra time.
A tightly contested opener, the Panthers held a four point edge going into the break, at 29-25. Rookie
Elijah Lewis led the team with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including three makes from beyond the arc. The first half also saw neither side lead by more than six, with Adelphi's advantage coming at 16:59 as the time with the lead was nearly identical for both sides. Pace held the upper hand in rebounds with 21, compared to Adelphi's 16.
Pace came out hot in the second half, scoring the first six points in less than two minutes for an obvious momentum shift. Double technical fouls on two separate occasions at the start of the frame resulted in a chippy remainder of the contest, with neither side leading by more than four over the ensuing six minutes.
Andrew Delaney's jumper at 11:10 put the Panthers ahead by seven, which they extended to double digits just seven minutes later.
The teams traded three-pointers to start the overtime frame to keep it close, including a tre from Walton to cut the deficit to one. A late Panther drive to the basket may have proved to be the gamewinner, but a block from the Setters and a late foul call all but sealed the deal for the road team to keep Adelphi winless in conference action.
Walton scored a career-best 32 as fellow rookie Lewis finished with 20, and
Ronnie Silva rounded out the trio in double-digits with 10.
The Panthers are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when they travel to Albany for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup starting at 3:30 p.m.
