Bloomfield, NJ...The Deacons get back on the winning track with a victory over East Coast Conference opponent, Adelphi University, 79-66. With the win Bloomfield stops a 4 game slide and improves their record to 11-7 overall(2-3 CACC). The loss drops the Panthers down to 6-6 overall(3-3 ECC). Freshman guard, Gage Daye, lit up the night with 29 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Head Coach Gerald Holmes set out to make a point to his team after they had lost 4 straight games including back to back losses by more than 20 points, by benching his 3 top scorers and replacing them with 2 freshman and a sophomore to start the game. The starting five responded to the task at hand and opened the game with a 12-4 run. The Deacons led the entire half, watching their lead balloon to as much as 17(34-17) with 2:43 remaining in the opening stanza. Adelphi would answer back with 11 straight points of their own to send the home team to the lockeroom up just 6 at the break. Gage Daye (Newark, NJ) played exceptional in the starting role as he paced the Deacons at the half with 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 3 assists. Junior forward Charles Smith (Newark, NJ) chipped in 10 points from the unusual bench role on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. For the Panthers, Dan Franchese (Hicksville, NY) stood out with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 5 rebounds.
The second half would prove to be a mirror of the first with Daye taking command and keeping the pressure on the Panthers allowing Bloomfield to open up with another 12-4 run. The lead would surge to 18 (75-57) with only 3:06 remaining on the clock after a Daye layup. Chris Sampson (Philadelphia, PA) added an exclamation slam dunk to bring the game to its' final result of 79-66. Daye was perfect from the field in the second half going 4-for-4 including 2-for-2 from downtown totaling 14 points for the 2nd period. Smith added another 11 points to give him 21 for the game. For Adelphi, Chris Diasparra (Mahopac, NY) scored all of his points in the 2nd half (10) followed by Pat Luptowski (Keene, NH) with 6 points in the period.
The Deacons leading scorer on the season, Omari Knox (Brooklyn, NY), finished the game with 11 points and 5 rebounds. Bloomfield shot 48% from the field for the game and outscored the Panthers 42-32 in the paint. Adelphi saw Richard Byrd (Central Islip, NY) join Franchese and Diasparra in double figures with 12 points. Steffon Farley (Lanham, MD) led the Panthers in rebounding with 8.
Bloomfield looks to continue down the winning road when the travel crosstown to battle the defending CACC Champion, Caldwell College on the 16th of January at 8:00pm.
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