FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2015
Panthers to host title game Sunday on ESPN3
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The Adelphi Panthers led for all but 2:19 and held off the Franklin Pierce Ravens, 65-54, on Thursday evening to secure a spot in the Northeast-10 Championship game.
Adelphi will host the title game, which will be carried live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, on Sunday at 1 p.m. The top-seeded Panthers await the winner of No. 2 New Haven and No. 4 American International, both also from the Southwest Division, who square off on Friday night on northeast10.tv at 7 p.m.
All-conference first teamer Kelly Mannix led the Panthers with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Calli Balfour and Anh-Dao Tran chipped in with 11 points apiece, while Sierra Clark added nine points and two blocks off the bench.
The Panthers jumped out front early on and took a seven-point lead on a Balfour three-pointer, forcing a Franklin Pierce timeout 8:26 into the first half. The Ravens came storming right back, however, and tied the game up at 17 all with 7:20 until the half on a Jemma Thacker triple.
Franklin Pierce took its first lead of the game, 22-20, at the 5:20 mark after Kate McDonald converted from downtown, forcing an Adelphi timeout. The Panthers immediately responded as Mannix tied the game with a jumper and later converted a free-throw attempt to give Adelphi the lead for good at the 4:01 mark.
Adelphi led, 33-28, at halftime and came right out of the break with four quick points to extend the lead to nine. Thacker sank another three-pointer with 11:16 left in the game to bring the Ravens within two at 45-43 to force another Panther timeout. Adelphi answered though, and went on a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the game with 7:13 to go.
Kara Charette scored the Ravens' next eight points, but Mannix and Tran hit back-to-back threes and the Panthers hit their foul shots down the stretch to put the game away for good.
Charette, also a first team all-conference selection, racked up a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds for Franklin Pierce. Jessica Hurd finished with eight points and eight boards for the Ravens.
Franklin Pierce, the last Northeast Division team to drop out of the tournament, falls to 18-10 overall, while the 11th-ranked Panthers improve to 27-3 on the season.
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
