Colchester, VT - In a game that came down to the wire, the Adelphi University men's basketball team topped the Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College in league action on Saturday, securing a 73-68 victory inside the Ross Sports Center.
Saint Michael's (13-4, 9-2 NE10) opened the conference slate with an impressive 9-0 mark before falling to Assumption and now lose their second straight to the Panthers. Adelphi (12-5, 8-3 NE10) is coming off a narrow home loss - also- to the Greyhounds, but bounce back with the win over league-leading Saint Mike's.
The Cats used a second half shooting percentage of 63.6 to aid in the defeat, after trailing by one at the half. The home team held an advantage in points off turnovers (15) while the Panthers pulled down one more board (32) and were 20-22 from the free throw line for the afternoon.
Dayshaun Walton led the scoring brigade for Adelphi, collecting 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field with eight rebounds as
Elijah Lewis also contributed 17 points. Rookie
David Luberoff filled the void for the regular bigs, with a new career-high 14 points courtesy of a 5-of-7 performance from the floor.
With 3:40 left in regulation, Saint Mike's completed a three-point play to knot the game at 65-all. Walton landed back to back free throws that kept the game in reach and Lewis put in a shallow jumper to regain the lead with 23 seconds left on the clock. A late foul call for the home team coupled with a class A technical on the bench sent the Cats to the line where Lewis landed all four to seal the deal and send the top-team in the league home with the loss.
Adelphi will return to its home court for a midweek matchup featuring Southern Connecticut on Jan. 24. In its first home game of the spring semester, the department will put on its annual Welcome Back Bash with a Hoops & Scoops promotion, giveaways from corporate sponsors, halftime contests, gift card giveaways, t-shirt toss, and the raffling off of an Adelphi swag bag and an autographed photo of New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson.
