Courtesy of Sarah Punderson, Philadelphia SID

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Philadelphia University men's basketball coach Herb Magee reached 1,500 combined NCAA victories with PhilaU women's hoops coach Tom Shirley with a 66-60 win on Tuesday evening in a road contest at St. Thomas Aquinas College (0-1).

The duo of Magee and Shirley are the second-winningest combination in collegiate basketball today, behind only the University of Connecticut's Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun, who carried 1,558 wins into the start of the 2010-11 season.

In Tuesday's contest, sophomore guard Jim Connolly led all scorers with 20 points, adding five boards and four assists for good measure.  A 12-12 tie at the 12:15 mark in the first stanza would be the turning point for STAC, who went on a 16-7 run to take their largest lead of the game 28-19.

However, PhilaU rookie guard Chris Kuntz led a comeback and knocked down a trey in the final seconds to give the Rams a 35-32 lead at the break.

The Rams (1-1) rolled in the second half, shooting 50% from the floor.  PhilaU freshman guard Nick Christian, newly minted CACC Rookie of the Week, hit a jumper at 7:03 to give PhilaU their largest lead of the game at 58-46.  Christian tallied 15 points in the match-up. 

STAC mounted a comeback in the last ticks, but junior center Temi Adebay had one of his four monster blocks on the night and Connolly sweetened the deal with two free throws to give the Rams their first win of the 2010-11 season.  Adebayo added eight points and six rebounds on the night. 

The Rams compete next at the Wolf Line Bus Tournament, hosted by Shippensburg on Friday and Saturday (11/19-20).