Albany, N.Y. - Capitalizing on turnovers, the Adelphi University men's basketball team secured its first win in conference play on Saturday, taking down the College of Saint Rose 84-68 inside Nolan Gymnasium.
The Panthers (7-9, 1-7 NE10) scoring was led by a rookie for the second game in a row, as
Elijah Lewis put up 20 points and fellow first year
Dayshaun Walton accounted for 19. Veterans
Ronnie Silva and
Andrew Delaney rounded out the quartet in double-digit scoring with 18 and 12, respectively, with the latter pulling down seven boards as well.
Walton started off the game with a three-point play to get things going for the visitors, who led by at-most 10 in the opening frame courtesy of a jumper from
Aristotelis Sotiriou. Despite a 56 percent shooting effort from the home team in the first, they still trailed by seven heading into the halftime break.
Adelphi managed to score 16 points off turnovers in the opener, with 30 of 38 coming from inside the paint.
The visitor lead continued to grow as the teams came out of the locker room, as a three-pointer from Delaney at 16:50 gave Adelphi a 14-point advantage. The Golden Knights faced a 20-point deficit when Lewis landed back-to-back free throws at 5:33, as the team went nearly perfect at the charity stripe with a 15-for-16 effort.
Saint Rose was unable to overcome the hot hands of the Brown and Gold, who went 5-for-7 from three point land and shot an impressive 63 percent from the field in the second half alone to close out an 84-68 decision. As a result, the Golden Knights have lost their last four contests, with their last win coming on Dec. 16 against Queens College.
The Panthers will return to their home court this Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they host Franklin Pierce University at 7:30 p.m..