New Haven, Conn. - It was a tough day inside the James Moore Field House for the Adelphi University basketball program, who lost to Southern Connecticut State on Saturday, 59-81. 

In the loss, Ronnie Silva managed to reach the career-milestone of 2,000 points, a feat only done by one other Panther. His current career total stands at 2,007, as the all-time record is held at 2,013 by recent Hall of Fame inductee Richard Byrd. 

The rookie tandem of Dayshaun Walton and Elijah Lewis led the Panthers (11-15, 5-13 NE10) in scoring with 15 and 12, respectively, with a combined 11-for-24 from the field and perfect stint at the free throw line. 

Scoring in the early going was hard to come by as the game was locked at six-all after five minutes of work. A 16-5 run ensued in favor of the hosting Owls (16-9, 10-6 NE10) which gave them an 11-point advantage with under 10 left in the opening frame. 

A string of five points brought Adelphi back within single digits but another scoring drought, left the visitors down 13 as Southern's Marty Silvera threw up a half court shot that landed at the buzzer. It was at 3:58 that Silva scored his first basket of the evening and became just the second Adelphi men's basketball player to reach the career milestone of 2,000 points. 

Coming out of the break, the home team pushed its lead to at-most 19 early on, but a jumper from Lewis sparked a 13-point run that saw Adelphi trailing by just six with 14:15 left in regulation. Momentum quickly shifted as the Owls rattled off 10 unanswered to push back out to its lead, that they never relinquished. 

Adelphi's offense struggled to get anything going, as four different players from Southern ended up with double-digit points. The hosts out-rebounded the Panthers 45-32 and scored 17 points off the visitors 17 turnovers, while keeping their miscues to a minimum. 

Adelphi men's basketball will trip to nearby Pace Univesrity on Wednesday, Feb. 15 for its penultimate regular season matchup, slated for 7:30 p.m.