boxscore

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior forward Devon Sullivan (Jamaica, N.Y.) led all scorers with 16 points, and sophomore center John Mazzarella (Wallingford, Conn.) finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds as the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team defeated American International by a score of 76-62 from Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Owls improved to 5-9 overall and 2-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

The Owls opened the game on a 10-2 run, led by six points from junior forward Terron Jones (Bridgeport, Conn.). American International chipped away at Southern Connecticut's lead, whittling it down to three at one point, but the Owls never let up and entered the intermission with a double-digit lead, 37-27. Sullivan and junior guard Justin Gardenhire (Rosedale, N.Y.) each scored eight in the first half to lead the Owls. American International's Vernon Dupree added eight of his own in the opening stanza to pace the Yellow Jackets.

Southern Connecticut started the second half on another run, this one a 17-6 swing that saw the Owls leads climb to 21, as the score sat at 54-33 with 11:00 remaining at the game. The Yellow Jackets climbed back to within 10, but never seriously threatened the Owls lead. The final horn sounded with the Owls taking the victory by a 14 point margin, 76-62.

Jones finished the day with 10 ten points, besting his season-high and matching his career-high set last season against Saint Rose. Sophomore guard Trevor Harris (Nanuet, N.Y.) joined Sullivan and Jones is double figures with 11 points. Gardenhire finished the day as the Owls' leading assist man with five. Junior guard Derrick Corbett (New Haven, Conn.) set a career-high with three assists. He also added seven points and two rebounds. Junior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted eight points, freshman guard Andrew Zito (Windsor, Conn.) tacked on three points, and freshman guard Lance Long (New Haven, Conn.) and senior forward Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in two points apiece.

Aikeem Vanderhorst and Sesoo Ikpah each scored 11 points to pace the American International offense.

On the afternoon, Southern Connecticut shot 31-for-57 (54.4%) from the floor, 4-for-10 (40%) from three-point range and 10-for-16 (62.5%) from the free throw line. American International shot 20-for-50 (40%) from the field, 6-for-18 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 16-for-27 (59.3%) from the charity stripe.

The Owls kick off a four-game road swing this week, starting with their last non-conference game of the season at Nyack on Tuesday, Jan. 15. The action tips off from Bowman Gymnasium in Nyack, N.Y. at 7 p.m.