Garden City, N.Y. – After a two-game stretch up north, the Adelphi men's basketball team earned a tightly contested 56–53 home win over rival Pace. With neither team holding a lead larger than five points for the entire game, Patrick Burke's clutch three-pointer with two seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Panthers.
Series History:
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Adelphi (12-4, 4-2 NE10) moves to 22-13 against the Setters since the 2006-07 season.
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The Panthers were able to avenge their last loss to Pace, which took place in the Northeast 10 semifinals. In that game, Dayshaun Walton scored 13 points and recorded eight rebounds. Jarnel Rancy tallied a career-high 14 rebounds in the loss.
Highlights:
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Patrick Burke, the reigning NE10 and Met Basketball Player of the Week, scored a game-high 18 points (including the game-winning three), shooting 7-12 from the floor. He was also the team's leading rebounder with seven boards.
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Mason Jackson had a nice night, scoring 14 on 4-8 shooting and 2-4 from three, as well as being a key defender in holding Pace's top scorer to just two points.
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Jarnel Rancy recorded four blocks, putting him 14 away from the all-time Division II record. Two of those blocks came in the final 40 seconds, setting up the Adelphi offense for Burke's winner. Rancy was also the team's leading assist man with four helpers.
How It Happened:
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The game played into Pace's preferred play style, the half-court offense. For nearly the entire game, both the Panthers and Setters would take the shot clock almost down to the buzzer. Halfway through the first half, only 20 points were scored as the conference foes were locked into a 10-10 tie.
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Both teams continued the see-saw affair as neither was able to take complete control of the game.
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Tied at 26, Pace's Ethan Robertson made a three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the half to put the Setters up at the break.
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The teams would trade made shots, and the Panthers were able to tie the score twice at 26 and at 30. A free throw and three-pointer with 19 seconds to play saw the Setters take a four-point lead into the break.
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Adelphi came out of the second half unfazed by the defensive battle and quickly took the lead after makes from Burke, Jackson and Rancy.
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Leading by as many as five after a slashing Al-Fatir Connor layup, the Panthers could not put Pace to bed. The Setters responded with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game once again.
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With less than six minutes to play, head coach Dave Duke called a timeout as Pace went up three. The Setters bench was fired up, but Duke kept the Panthers calm as the home team immediately responded with a bucket from Burke, a defensive stop and a Walton layup.
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The defensive battle continued and, with a minute left in the game, the score was tied at 53.
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Pace had its chances to take the lead, but both shots were swatted away by Rancy, firing up the crowd and the Adelphi bench. A shot clock violation put the ball into the hands of Adelphi with 32 seconds remaining.
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Connor dribbled the clock out until finding a wide-open Burke with a perfect pass. The junior buried a clutch three to put the Cats up 56–53.
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Pace had the last shot with 1.4 seconds remaining but, just as it had all night, the Adelphi defense suffocated the Setter offense and earned a hard-fought win.
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The contest saw 17 lead changes and 12 ties.
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Adelphi's improved second-half shooting helped propel them to the win, as they shot 52% from the field compared to 31.6% in the first half.
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