Garden City, N.Y. -  Returning players and Long Island residents, Jeremiah Mordi and Diego Maldonado put on a show for their family and friends in attendance as they combined to score 32 points in an 80-66 loss to Adelphi on Monday in Garden City.  Mordi finished with 18, while Maldonado had a career-best 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Off a steal from Chris Leppanen, Maldonado put Queens up 3-0 barely a minute into the game as he slashed through the lane to make a layup and draw a foul.  He made the free throw.  Less a minute later, Maldonado made it 6-3 as he duplicated his three-point-play from earlier.  The Knights would hold the lead for the next three-and-a-half minutes until the Golden Panthers took a 14-12 lead at the 12:12 mark.  The held the lead for nearly six minutes until Mordi evened the score at 21-21 with a jumper at the 6:44 mark.  Adelphi would regain the lead at take a 36-31 advantage into the break.

The Knights came out aggressively in the second half, especially on the defensive end, and their tenacity would be rewarded when Leppanen stole the ball, started a fast break and found Mordi for a bucket at the other end.  That made the score 38-33, Adelphi.  Mohamed Dansoko  scored on a put back shortly thereafter and QC was within three, 38-35.  But the Knights got no closer.  The Golden Panthers eventually pushed the lead to as many as 22 points late in the game, but went on to win 80-66.

Maldonado earned his first career start and scored a career-best 14 points.  Keith Williams came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-8 shooting from behind the three-point line.  Re'Quan Hopson saw his first action of the season and pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds. The Knights are now 0-4 on the season.

The Queens College men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, December 3, when they host their season-opener against Concordia.  The opening tip with the Clippers is slated for 7:00 PM.