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Queens men drop 3rd straight, fall to Adelphi 51-48

By Dylan Butler

Greg Dickinson had a chance. He had a chance to exorcise the demons that have haunted him for almost a year and he had a chance to send the game into overtime for the Queens College men’s basketball team Tuesday night at Adelphi University.

But on the same court, the same cruel rim again once again denied not one, but two last-second three-point attempts by Dickinson as the Knights fell to the Panthers, 51-48.

“I had flashbacks,” said Dickinson, who missed a three-pointer in the waning moments of a 52-49 loss in the NYCAC quarterfinals last year. “After the shot I just thought, ‘same thing two years in a row.’”

Led by former St. John’s Prep star Dwayne Thompson, who scored a team-high 12 points, Adelphi won its third straight game and avenged a 71-69 loss at Queens Jan. 8.

The Knights have now lost three straight after the first game of a treacherous six-game road swing.

Queens (7-7, 6-5) played a spirited game defensively, a marked improvement from the past several games, but the Knights struggled mightily offensively, shooting an abysmal 28.3 percent from the field (13-for-46), including 20 percent (4-for-20) in a first half that saw Queens trail 28-17.

In quick succession, Queens coach Kyrk Peponakis subbed in freshman Bradd Wierzbicki, who made his first collegiate start, Dickinson and Ofir Binyamin trying to find the right combination of players and his team finally responded, going on a 16-1 run to take a 39-38 lead on Shaun Bertin’s second field goal of the game with 6:15 left.

But former Molloy standout Jamaal Wagner answered back with a three-pointer to give Adelphi (8-5, 6-4) a lead it would not relinquish.

In addition to Dickinson’s two three-point attempts, John Sikiric (16 points) had a wide open look off a screen to tie the game with eight seconds left, but the ball bounced off the rim.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, whether it was not running our stuff right or taking bad shots or turning it over,” Peponakis said. “It just kept getting worse and worse.”

After playing at C.W. Post Thursday, Queens faces Mercy College Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College.

Adelphi 71, Queens College 57. Shonda Holder had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Amy Mulligan added eight points and seven boards for the Lady Knights, which shot 29.8 percent (17-for-57) from the field for the game and fell to 7-7, 6-5 in the league. Carlyshia Hurdle came off the bench to score 16 points and Laura Phillips added 13 for Adelphi (8-5, 7-3 NYCAC).

Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.