PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 7 seed Pace University men's basketball team picked up an impressive 72-51 win in the NE10 Conference Championship first round over No. 10 seed Adelphi University, earning a trip to the championship quarterfinals with the victory.

After an early three by Adelphi, senior guard Brandon Powell (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush / FDU) answered with one of his own to tie the game in the opening minute. With the game tied at five, senior forward Bryan Powell (Middletown, N.Y./Canterbury School), who tied junior guard Lyron Bennett (Boston, Mass./Tech Boston / Southern Connecticut State) for the team lead with 16 points and led Pace with six rebounds, hit one from beyond the arc to give Pace an 8-5 advantage. With Pace leading by two, Bennett converted an and-one to push the home team's lead to six, and on the next possession senior guard Adeleye Oyekanmi (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) hit one from deep as the Setters took command early.

With the lead back down to six with under eight minutes to go, Adelpni's Elijah Lewis connected on a four-point play to cut it to a 20-18 score. Freshman guard Chaz Harvey (Chicago, Ill./Bosco Institute) answered with a layup, but another three by Lewis cut the Pace advantage to one point with five minutes remaining.

A third three ball from Lewis tied the game at 26, but Brandon Powell (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush / FDU) answered with one from distance as well to put Pace ahead in the final minute. A last-second layup by grad student Adonis Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y./Brooks School / Adelphi) gave the Setters a 31-26 lead at the intermission.

An early three by Bennett made it a seven-point lead for the Setters to open up the second half. After the Panthers cut it to six, a pair of baskets by Bennett and Williams made it a double-digit lead for the home team with six minutes gone by. Williams then connected with a three to make it a 47-34 game. Another three by Bryan Powell (Middletown, N.Y./Canterbury School) pushed it to a 16-point game and forced an Adelphi timeout.

Brandon Powell (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush / FDU) connected from deep after the Panthers scored four straight, and a pair of baskets by the Powell brothers extended it to a 61-44 advantage with five minutes remaining. Two more threes from freshman guard Jabari Nurse (Randolph, Mass./New Hampton Prep) and Bennett closed things out, as Pace took a 72-51 victory over the visiting Panthers.

The Blue and Gold defense held Adelphi's leading scorer, Ronnie Silva to just six points. Silva was averaging 15.7 points per game going into Friday night's contest.

With the win, Pace advances to 20-9; marking the second-consecutive 20-win season for head coach Matt Healing and the Setters. Adelphi fell to 12-17.

The Setters will face No. 2 seed Saint Anselm College in the quarterfinal round Sunday, Feb. 26. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.