Garden City, N.Y. — Head coach Dave Duke and the Adelphi men's basketball team returned to the court on Saturday afternoon to take on Saint Michael's in the CRS.
The game started off at a rapid pace with Adelphi holding a 12-11 lead just five minutes into the contest. A Tavin Pierre Philippe three ball and a Matthew Price floater extended the lead further, but the Purple Knights kept themselves in the game.
Shots from beyond the arc were the name of the game for both teams in the opening period as both hit seven threes. The Panthers held a steady lead in field goal percentage, however, shooting 62.9% from the floor compared to the visitor's 51.6%.
As both teams shot the lights out, The Purple Knights kept cutting into the Adelphi lead. A layup from Saint Mike's put them down only five but in the last minute of the half, the 'Cats turned up the heat. A Patrick Burke three pointer, Al-Fatir Conor slashing jump shot and incredible steal and score from Dayshaun Walton just before the buzzer put Adelphi up 51-41 at the break.
To start the second half, the Panthers went on a 21-8 extended run, growing their lead to as large as 18. But as quickly as they heated up, the 'Cats cooled down and shots were no longer falling.
Saint Michael's quickly followed the Adelphi run with an 11-0 run themselves, getting the score to 72-65 and making it a game again.
Duke called a timeout to settle his team but the lead once again dwindled down, this time to five.
Andres Fulgencio responded with a big three-pointer from the left wing to get the bench on its feet and inject some life into the offense.
Just before the seven minute mark, two costly Saint Mike's turnovers led to Panther points but the Purple Knights' sharpshooter C.J. Crews hit his fifth three of the game to keep his squad in it.
On the ensuing Adelphi possession, Crews was fouled and then Fulgencio was hit with a technical foul, giving the visitor four free throws. Luckily for the 'Cats, only two were made and Fulgencio redeemed himself by scoring four of the next six Adelphi points.
As the Purple Knights continued to fight, Dayshaun Walton buried a huge three ball to grow the hometown lead back into double digits and double digits is where the lead would stay.
Adelphi never led by less than 10 for the remainder of the ballgame and raced to a 107-92 victory.
The 107 points were a single-season high for Adelphi as they shot 58.5% from the floor and 52% from three.
Fulgencio scored his most points as a Panther with 32 while also making a new high of 12 field goals and seven threes.
Pierre Philippe tied his career-high with 22 points.
Jarnel Rancy amassed a career-high six assists and added four more blocks to his nation leading tally that now sits at 96.
The 'Cats (23-5, 15-2 NE10) return to the court on Wednesday for a chance to clinch the Northeast-10 regular season title with a win over Pace in Pleasantville.
