Garden City, N.Y. — Head coach Dave Duke and the #18 Adelphi men's basketball team hosted New Haven on Tuesday night for their regular season finale. Before the game, Andres Fulgencio, Tavin Pierre Philippe and Nuha Sagnia were honored during a senior night ceremony.
Pierre Philippe set the tone for his night, starting the game's scoring off with a three-pointer. Unlike recent Panther contests, this one was slow paced with Adelphi holding a 14-9 lead halfway through the period.
New Haven got the lead all the way down to one at the 5:41 mark, but that would just wake the 'Cats up. Led by Dayshaun Walton and Pierre Philippe, Adelphi ripped off a 16-7 run to take a commanding 33-20 lead with just a minute to play. The Chargers madea three before the break but Adelphi was in complete control.
Early on in the second half, New Haven tried to make it a game but it never seemed like the Brown and Gold lost control. With every Charger bucket, Pierre Philippe, Walton or Fulgencio returned the favor and make a clutch basket themselves.
With 11 minutes remaining in the game, Jarnel Rancy swatted his fifth Charger shot of the game, giving him sole possession of Adelphi's single-season record for blocks with 111. He went on to finish the game with six blocks, expanding his record to 112.
Back-to-back threes with just over three minutes to play from seniors Fulgencio and Pierre Philippe would be daggers for the road team and the Panthers earned a 70-59 victory.
Pierre Philippe scored a career-high 28 points, shooting 11-14 from the floor and an impressive 6-7 from three. Walton followed him with 16.
The Panthers (25-6, 17-3 NE10) earned their first Northeast-10 regular season title since the 2011-12 season and have home court advantage throughout the NE10 tournament. They will face the winner of Saint Michael's and New Haven on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the CRS.