Rindge, N.H. — Head coach Dave Duke and the Adelphi men's basketball team were back in the continental United States Wednesday night, after spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Hawaii, to take on Northeast-10 foe Franklin Pierce.
In what has become a trend for the Panthers, the game started off slow with not much scoring in the early goings. With under 10 minutes to play, Adelphi trailed 15-9 until Andres Fulgencio made a three to try and jump start the offense. The Raven lead grew to six in the next few minutes but the Panthers stayed collected and trusted the game plan.
Mason Jackson made a three and Fulgencio hit the next two Adelphi shots to pull the Brown and Gold 21-20 with 6:32 left to play in the half.
A back and forth tilt was the story for the remainder of the first stanza, but shots from Fulgencio and Dayshaun Walton gave Adelphi a four point lead going into the break.
The second half featured an offensive explosion from the Panthers as they out scored Franklin Pierce 57-33 and turned a close game into a Panther blowout.
Tavin Pierre Philippe jump started the rout with a three pointer and from there Adelphi could not miss while playing suffocating defense. The turning point of the game came when a crisp pass from Al-Fatir Connor lead to a Walton three to put the 'Cats up ten. Franklin Pierce's ensuing possession turned into a steal and slam from Jarnel Rancy to expand the lead.
Adelphi's lead continued to grow as ten different Panthers scored in the 87-59 victory.
The team made an incredible 16 threes in the game, 12 of them coming in the second half.
Pierre Philippe and Fulgencio were tied for the team lead with 17 points while Walton added 16. Walton is now only 18 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Rancy led the Panthers with seven boards and recorded a season-high eight blocks.
The Adelphi men's basketball team will return to the court on Sunday when they host Saint Anselm at the CRS at 2 p.m.