Adelphi Men's Basketball Loses to Conference Rival

By Leslie Feffer

Frustration and disappointment. That pretty much sums up how the Adelphi University (3-3 overall, 2-1 NYCAC) men's basketball team feels about their 72-65 loss to New York Collegiate Athletic Conference rival The College of Saint Rose (4-1, 4-0) on Saturday, Dec. 6.

After a horrendous 4-12 start to the game, the Panthers tried to play catch up for the rest of the evening, but never quite made it. "I'm extremely unhappy that we didn't play well. We had a lot of unnecessary turnover," said Adelphi Head Coach Steve Clifford. "I don't think that we played intelligently or with any defensive intensity. We have to play a lot better than that to beat the good teams."

Every time Adelphi came within striking distance of the Golden Knights, the visitors managed to widen the gap between the two. With 12:58 left in the first half, forward Chris Bernard's (13 points, game-high 8 rebounds, game-high 3 steals) lay-up brought the Panthers to 12-16. But in less than a minute, Saint Rose ran the score right back up to an even wider margin - 12-23- and the period ended with Adelphi at a 32-37 deficit.

The second half offered no relief for the home team, as they fell to 42-54 with 10:05 left in the game. By the end, Adelphi had put together a valiant attempt, but fell short. Although forward Justin Mallis briefly gave the Panthers a 66-65 lead with 1:18 to go, St. Rose regained the lead for good, aided by a couple of Adelphi turnovers.

"(St. Rose shot) 59 percent from the floor - it's a Joke," Clifford said. "It's as bad an effort as we've had in the three years I've been here. I thought we were awful, and there were no positives. They're talented guys who just didn't get it done," said the coach.

This was center Ahmad Jackson (game-high 17 points, 7 rebounds) first experience in the Adelphi-St. Rose rivalry, although he had heard the gory details from his friend, Chris Bernard. Jackson blamed the loss on the newness of the team - "Guys who haven't played together for a long time."

In spite of that, he remained confident that the Panthers will have their revenge. "We're gonna be all right. We just have to go up there and beat them," Jackson aid. "They beat us in our home, so we've got to go p there and beat them in their home. We can do it, I know we can."

However, history says otherwise. The two teams have met 17 times, and St. Rose has dominated, winning 15 of those contests; the last time Adelphi won was in 1996, when they beat the Golden Knights for the NYCAC championship. Then again, St. Rose lost three of their top players from last year, including 7'2", 300 lbs. Garth Joseph - and Jackson was somewhat relieved that he didn't have to go up against him.

Senior G/F Andrew Bridges is well-versed in the history between the two teams. "In the last three or four years, it has evolved into a very big rivalry. Every time they come here, it's a great big crowd," said the co-captain. "It's a big game and it's so disappointing to lose to them tonight. We had a chance to win, but it's very upsetting to get that close and not finish it off."

Although reeling from the loss, Clifford remains optimistic about his team and hints at some changes. "This is our best group, in terms of working hard," the coach said. "I think we'll be very good, but we'll definitely evaluate who's playing what minutes and we'll go from there."