SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Justice Ellison became the 14th basketball player in American International College history, and the ninth for the men's basketball team, to reach the 1,500 career point plateau, but the Yellow Jackets fell 75-61 to No. 24 Adelphi University in Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday, February 5.
AIC is now 3-19 overall and 2-12 in the NE10.
The Panthers roared out to an early 10-2 lead, with Andres Fulgencio knocking in a three 5:41 in to build the advantage. Ellison hit his second shot of the game, but the Panthers countered with a triple, layup, and dunk, forcing an AIC timeout with 11:22 left in the half and the Yellow Jackets trailing 17-4.
Abdullah Mahamed scored on the AIC possession, and then Ellison and Jack Hall took over. Hall popped in a jumper and a three, then countered two free throws with another triple. Ellison then scored on back-to-back possesions with a jumper and a thundering dunk on a breakaway Hall sent him on after a rebound, shrinking the deficit to one. The jumper was the trophy point, pushing him to 1,501 for his career.
The duo continued to pummel the nation's second-ranked shooting defense. Hall scored four straight to tie the game, and then several possessions later Ellison found Hall for a lay-in that gave AIC a 25-24 lead with 3:00 in the half to go. Hall also sank a three, and Ellison scored the final four of the half to send AIC to the locker room up 32-28. The pair combined for 12 of 15 shooting and 30 points in the frame.
Tyrae Washington joined the scoring to start the second, hitting a jumper on the first possession for AIC. Adelphi chipped away from there, taking the lead on a free throw with 15:07 to play. AIC pushed back, and Hall completed a rare four-point play, drawing a foul on a three-point shot he made and knocking in the free throw as well, pulling AIC within 48-47, but Adelphi controlled the scoring from there, winning 75-61.
Ellison led AIC with 24 points and also grabbed seven rebounds; Hall scored 23, a season best, and nabbed four boards and three steals. Washington pulled in eight rebounds and scored six points.
Ellison now has 1,519 career points; the next player on AIC's scoring list is current AIC women's basketball head coach Kristen Hutchison, who scored 1,542 points in her playing career from 1998 to 2002.
The Yellow Jackets return to play Saturday, February 8 at the University of New Haven at 3:30 p.m.
