Amherst, N.Y. – For the first time since 2012, the Adelphi men's basketball team was selected for the NCAA Tournament, slotting in as the #2 seed in the East Region after bowing out in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference tournament. A total of four NE10 teams are dancing this year, with the other four teams coming out of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

Daemen University (ECC), the #1 ranked team in the country, received the top spot in the region and secured hosting rights. The Brown and Gold have yet to play the top seeded Wildcats. 

The Panthers are 5-4 against the field and have not lost to any team in the field more than once during the regular season. Outside of NE10 teams, Adelphi is 1-1 against the field with the lone win coming at the #8 seed Bridgeport back in December.  

Adelphi leads the region and is second in Division II in blocks per game, averaging 6.4. Heading into the NCAA tournament, senior Jarnel Rancy leads the country in blocks with 123, the most across Divisions I, II, and III. Additionally, the 'Cats sit third in the region in field goal percentage, shooting at a 48.6 percent clip. 

Head coach Dave Duke and his squad will begin tournament play on Saturday as they are set to take on the #7 seed Dominican University of New York (ECC). In their meeting during the 2024-25 season, the Chargers came out on top while holding the Panthers to their lowest point total of the season, in a 63-41 decision in Orangeburg, N.Y. 

Adelphi has the edge in the all-time meeting record by one game, 4-3. Prior to this year, the two teams squared off during the 2021-22 season, with Dominican winning that contest 84-76. 

The Panthers have been invited to the NCAA tournament a total of 17 times, posting a record of 11-18. From 1995-2003 Adelphi made eight consecutive appearances, with three trips to the Elite Eight. The most recent trip to the Elite Eight was in 2002. 

The program's last tournament victory came in 2012, coming out on top in a 66-65 decision against C.W. Post. The team then fell to the eventual East Region champions, Stonehill University,  in the semifinal round.

A game stream for the Panthers' contest against Dominican can be found here.

Duke and the Panthers will be holding a press conference on Friday at 1:55 p.m. the link for that stream can be found here.