Box Score
Brookville, N.Y. – The Panthers dropped an 87-77 contest earlier this afternoon against cross-town rivals, LIU-Post. Despite an impressive 48-point second half surge and four players in double figures, Adelphi was not able to overcome a 13 point deficit after the initial 20 minutes of play which ultimately wound up in a loss. In defeat, the Brown and Gold slip to 3-8 overall while the Pioneers advance to 8-3.
Junior Duane Morgan knocked down a career high 22 points on 8-18 shooting from the field while falling one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. Teammate Ryan DeNicola recorded his third straight double-double performance of the year by grabbing 13 misses and tacking on 13 points of his own while Greg Davis had a breakout game with a career high 18 points; 12 of which came from behind the arc. Anthony Libroia rounded out the top point scorers with 13 points.
Each side struggled from the field from the get-go as both teams missed on their first four attempts. It was not until the 18:07 mark until LIU-Post's Allen Vaughn registered the first point of the game on a free throw attempt. Libroia got his team on the board with a jumper, but five turnovers and three missed shots over the next eight possessions left the doors open for a Pioneer run. The gap began to widen to 10 and made its way up to as much as 17 at one point. The Panthers cut it down to single digits on two occasions, but would head into the locker room down by 13 at the half, 42-29.
In the second, the Brown and Gold went on a 9-0 run with contributions from Morgan, Libroia, DeNicola and Boris Fodouop to make it a four point affair, 45-41. At the 13:57 mark, a triple from Davis made it a one possession game. The Panthers found themselves down by five with just under three minutes left to play after another three-pointer from Davis.
Post's PJ Torres connected on a layup to increase the home team's cushion to nine but Libroia responded with a lay in of his own on the ensuing possession. However, with time running out, four consecutive Pioneer free throws gave the hosts a 12 point buffer with 15 seconds left. Morgan's dunk with nine seconds left to bring them to within 10 was the final score of the game as Adelphi found themselves on the short end of the 87-77 scoreboard.
Up Next
The Panthers are back in action as they host the Dolphins of Le Moyne on Saturday, January 4 with tip off at the Center for Recreation and Sports slated for 3:30 pm. A free HD webcast of the game will be streamed here while live stats will also be available. Additionally, you can catch all the action during the game on Twitter by following @AUPanthers.
