Senior A.J. Rudowitz made 6-of-9 shots from the field en route to a team-best 13 points tonight against Adelphi. |
2010 NE-10 TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINALS
9th-seeded Adelphi Sinks #18 Stonehill, 59-58
Byrd drains two free-throws with 2.1-seconds left to lift Panthers into semifinals
EASTON, Mass. (March 1, 2010) - Junior guard Richard Byrd (Central Islip, N.Y./Copaigue) drained two free-throws with 2.1-seconds left in regulation to lift ninth-seeded Adelphi University to a 59-58 upset of top-seeded and regular season champions Stonehill College, ranked 18th in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll and first in the NCAA Division II East regional rankings, in quarterfinal round action of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball championship at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.
Adelphi (21-10, 12-10 NE-10) advances to Thursday's semifinal round where it will face fifth-seeded Saint Anselm College (20-9, 14-8 NE-10) in Manchester, N.H., at 7 p.m. The Hawks advanced with a mild 74-67 upset of fourth-seeded Le Moyne College (18-10, 14-8 NE-10) in their NE-10 quarterfinal tonight. Stonehill (23-5, 20-2 NE-10), which falls out of the NE-10 Tournament in the quarterfinal round after earning a first round bye for the second-straight season, will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday night with the selection show on www.ncaa.com at 9:30 p.m.
Byrd led Adelphi with a game-high 19 points (13 first half), on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, draining his only two free-throw attempts on the night to go with five rebounds. Junior David Akinyooye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) added 15 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the field, five rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench. Senior Casey Cosgrove (Andover, Mass./Andover) chipped in with eight points, six assists, five steals and three rebounds.
Sophomore Patrick Lee added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Skyhawks. |
Senior A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) led Stonehill with 13 points, including the 1,500th of his career, on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, to go with three rebounds. Classmate Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) added 12 points and four steals, while sophomore Patrick Lee (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) contributed 11 points, making his only two field goal attempts while converting 7-of-10 free-throws, to go with six rebounds. Sophomore Ivan Almeida (Praia, Cape Verde) chipped in with eight points, on 4-of-8 shooting, and a game-high eight rebounds.
Adelphi finished shooting 52.1-percent (25-for-48) from the field after burying 64.3% (18-28) of their shots in the opening half, including 4-of-8 (50%) three-pointers. Stonehill shot 47.7-percent (21-for-44) from the field, including 57.9% (11-for-19) in the first half, but made just 1-of-11 (9.1%) three-pointers and couldn't take advantage of an over 5-to-1 ratio of free-throw attempts by converting just 15-of-23 (65.2%). The Panthers posted a 16-10 advantage in points off turnovers, but the Skyhawks negated that with a 10-0 margin in second chance points. Stonehill out-rebounded Adelphi 30-21 on the night, limiting the Panthers to just one offensive rebound.
Byrd's free-throws were Adelphi's only points over the final 6:59 and were the Panthers only two free-throw attempts of the second half as they went to the line just four times all night. Akinyooye drilled a three-pointer to put the Panthers up seven (57-50) with 6:59 to play. Stonehill pulled within three with an unconventional four-point play as Rudowitz scored a layup while drawing a foul and then missed the free-throw, but Lee grabbed the rebound and put it back with 6:30 remaining.
Senior Randall Stallworth posted 12 points and four steals. |
Lee made two free-throws to draw Stonehill within one (57-56) with 4:53 remaining and then Almeida gave the Skyhawks their only lead of the night (58-57) with a put back with 3:40 remaining. That would prove to be Stonehill's last points of the night as the Skyhawks missed their last three shots from the field and Almeida missed the front-end of a one-and-one with eight-seconds left with a chance to extend their lead. Akinyooye pulled down the rebound and got the ball to Byrd who drove to the basket and drew a blocking foul with two-seconds to go before drilling the winning free-throws. Adelphi pulled out the win despite missing its final four shots from the field and committed four of its 13 turnovers in that stretch.
Adelphi came out firing, staking out a 10-2 lead after a Cosgrove three 4:16 into the game on its way to a ten point (14-4) lead after a Byrd jumper with 14:11 remaining in the first half. The Panthers lead grew to as much as 12 points (30-18) after an Akinyooye jumper with 6:37 remaining in the half and was still there (38-26) following another Akinyooye basket with 2:46 left in the half.
Stonehill was able to draw within eight (41-33) after a Stallworth jumper at halftime. The Skyhawks continued to chip away in the second half, aided by a defensive effort which held Adelphi to just 18 second half points on 7-for-20 (35%) shooting from the field. Stonehill cut its deficit to four (47-43) after an Almeida jumper with 13:24 left in regulation. The Skyhawks couldn't get any closer than four until its closing run in the final seven minutes. The Panthers made just one field goal (Akinyooye three with 6:59 left) in the last 10:22.
