THE BASICS

No. 4 Lesley University, 59 vs. No. 1 SUNY Delhi, 75

Location: Delhi, N.Y.-Floyd L. Maines Arena

Date: Friday, February 21, 2025

THE LEAD— The No.4 seed Lesley University men's basketball saw its regular season come to an end in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division Quarterfinals against No.1 seed SUNY Delhi, 75-59 Friday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lesley opened things up with a quick 3-0 lead after senior forward Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) converted an and-one opportunity. However, SUNY Delhi responded and pulled ahead 7-3 with 15:05 left until halftime after a Noah Colin layup gave the hosts the four-point lead. 
• Later in the half, the Lynx pulled within one (7-6) courtesy of a CJ Leonard (Raynham, Mass.) and-one opportunity. From then on, both sides traded baskets, and with the Broncos up one (11-10), Lesley recaptured the lead (12-11) courtesy of another Leonard layup. 
• Despite the one-point advantage, SUNY Delhi's offense gathered momentum and would go up seven (19-12) behind an 8-0 run, which led to a Lesley timeout. Lester McCarthy led the SUNY Delhi stretch with five points, including a three. 
• Coming out of the break, the Broncos offense continued their push and would go ahead by 11 (27-16), but two Howard free throws brought Lesley within single digits (27-18) with 6:14 until halftime. SUNY Delhi would only let the Lynx get that close the rest of the first as the Broncos closed out the first half on a 17-10 run and took a 44-26 lead into the half. 
• In the second, SUNY Delhi continued its strong play on the offensive side of the ball and grabbed its largest lead of the night (54-28) after a Jason Tagios three with 16:38 left to play. After two Tavon Rhodes (Dorchester, Mass.) free throws and Howard tip-in made it 54-32, SUNY Delhi called a timeout to halt the Lesley momentum with 15:19 remaining.
• After the timeout, SUNY Delhi continued to hold off any Lynx momentum, and the closest Lesley would get was 12 (67-55) with 5:19 left to play, and the Broncos would ultimately secure a 75-59 playoff win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Rhodes led all scorers with 17 points. Lesley's other double-figure scorers were Tarell Joseph (Hempstead, N.Y.), who scored 16 points, and Howard, who scored 14 points. 
• On the glass, Howard grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. 
• For SUNY Delhi, Gustarling Louis led the team with 16 points. The Broncos' offense had three other scorers finish with 10+ points, including Brennan Heaven (15 points), Lester McCarthy (14 points), and Isaiah Barnes (10 points). 
• Along with Louis' 16 points, he also brought down a game-high 11 boards for his first double-double of the season. 
• Despite the loss, Lesley's six-game win total is the most since 2017-18, when the squad went 13-14. It also marked the most wins under Head Coach Devon Mayo.