MANCHESTER, N.H. – Visiting Adelphi University held Southern New Hampshire University to 28.6% shooting for the game as it posted a 60-58 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory at the SNHU Fieldhouse Wednesday night. The Panthers improved to 9-3 and 5-3 in the NE-10 with the victory, while the Penmen are now 5-7 and 1-7 in the league.
Richard Byrd and Rob Johnson each totaled 12 points to lead Adelphi, with Byrd going 5-11 from the floor. Johnson knocked down all four of his three-point attempts in 12 minutes in the first half but did not return for the final 20 minutes. Chris Ranglin and Bradley Simpson each added nine points for the Panthers.
Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md.) led Southern New Hampshire with 17 points, knocking down five of his 11 three-point attempts while also grabbing seven rebounds. Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) was the other Penmen player in double figures as he finished with 12 points. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) went 7-8 at the free throw line and added nine points and 12 rebounds.
Neither team led by more than six points in a game that saw six ties and 13 lead changes. SNHU tied the game 51-51 with 4:50 left on a DeSantis three, but Adelphi would take a 57-53 lead with just over three minutes to go when Richard Harkins knocked down an NBA-range three. Down four, DeSantis would make it 59-58 with 54 seconds to go on a deep three of his own.
The Penmen would get a stop and Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) would get blocked on a drive to the basket with eight seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds SNHU turned the ball over and were forced to foul Byrd, who made 1-of-2 at the line. DeSantis would get a final look as time expired but his three-point attempt was off the mark.
Southern New Hampshire jumped out to a 14-9 lead six minutes into the game following back-to-back threes by Morgan-Green, but the Panthers used a 9-2 run to take an 18-16 lead on a three by Johnson with 11:45 left before halftime. Another Morgan-Green three with two minutes to go gave the Penmen a 29-27 lead, and the two teams entered halftime deadlocked at 30.
Adelphi shot 51.1% for the game, including 57.1% (8-14) from behind the arc while also outscoring the Penmen in the paint 26-10. SNHU took advantage of its nine more free throw attempts, going 16-22 at the charity stripe while the Panthers were 6-13. The Penmen outrebounded Adelphi 43-27, including a commanding 16-1 advantage on the offensive glass, but were able to generate just six second-chance points.
Southern New Hampshire returns to action on Saturday when it travels to American International College for a 3:30 contest.
