CHC sophomore James Rider IV (with ball) maneuvers around Adelphi center Tim Delaney to get off a lay-up. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Last Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill College's Sorgenti Arena, the shooters for visiting Adelphi University seemed to change the title of the old "Ding Dong" Christmas carol to "Three-balls Merrily on High."

Hitting 11 three-point field goals in the first half alone and shooting 19-for-42 from the arc for the game, the Griffins' guests from Long Island enjoyed a 51-31 lead at halftime and then cruised to an 89-61 victory.

The one glimmer of good news for CHC was that this was a non-conference contest, so while the Griffins' overall record declined to 0-9, they remained 0-2 within the Central Atlantic College Conference. Adelphi, a member of the Northeast10 Conference, improved to 8-3 overall.

CHC freshman guard Scottie Spann Jr., who played for Sankofa Freedom Academy in Philadelphia, was the high scorer in Saturday's game with 25 points, but aside from that the only player in or even close to double figures was sophomore James Rider IV, with a 15-point showing.

After Adelphi opened the proceedings with a lay-up in transition, three-point shots began descending upon the CHC basket. The Panthers scored the first eight points of the game, and when the host Griffins called time-out with four minutes and 22 seconds elapsed, the visitors already had five treys in the books and led 17-6.

Chestnut Hill had scored its first six points from the three-point line, but both times Adelphia responded in kind almost immediately, and would continue to do so whenever CHC tossed in a "three" the rest of the afternoon.

When the Panthers lobbed in their eighth trey with 11:50 remaining in the first half, they reached a 20-point lead at 28-8. Over the next five minutes the Griffins put on their best performance of the game, going on a 19-8 run. Spann led it with two treys, two other field goals, and with three-for-four foul-shooting. Rider added a three-pointer and two free throws as the Griffins cut Adelphi's lead back under 10 points, 36-27.

It seemed a good spot for a time-out by the visitors, but the Panthers' coaching staff chose to let the players handle the situation out on the floor. They did just that, outscoring the Griffins the rest of the half, 15-4, to get the lead back to 20 points for the break, 51-31.

The Panthers' surge continued into the early minutes of the second half. No one was surprised when they started off with a three-point bucket, and this proved to be the beginning of a 12-0 run to start the second stanza.

Over the first 10 minutes of the new period the Chestnut Hill offense produced eight points, and at the midway point the visitors were up by 40, 79-39.

Spann and some of the other Griffins worked hard after that to make the final gap between the teams somewhat more respectable. CHC's inside game got a boost when Adelphi's 6'9" center, Tim Delaney, fouled out of the game with five minutes to go.

Colliding with Adelphi's Austin Beeach on a drive toward the basket, Griffins freshman Conor Regan (with ball) was called for a charge on this play. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

A list of four double-digit scorers for the Panthers was led by junior Spencer Foley, who shot five-for-seven from the three-point line en route to a 19-point performance.

Surprisingly, there was not a big difference between the teams in many statistical categories at the end of the night. However, one major gap was seen in the area of overall field goal percentages, with the Griffins under 29 nd Adelphi right at 50.