boxscore

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Junior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 18 points and dished out a team-high five assists, but the high-powered offense of Pace University used 50 second half points to knock off the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team by a score of 85-73. With the loss, the Owls fall to 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Pace improved to 7-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

 

The Owls opened the game on an 11-4 run, led by seven points from Bell. After a Pace 30-second timeout, the scoring balanced out for the duration of the period, as the Owls entered the intermission leading 37-35. Bell led the Owls with 10 points in the half on 4-for-5 field goals, including a 2-for-2 performance from three-point range. Sophomore center John Mazzarella (Wallingford, Conn.) hauled in six rebounds and blocked four shots in the first half for Southern Connecticut. Pace's Gibraltar White led all scorers in the opening stanza with 13 points, netting him an even 1,000 points for his career. The Owls shot 54% from the floor in the half while the Setters shot 33% from the field.

 

The Setters came out firing in the second half, running out to a 49-48 lead that they would never relinquish. Pace shot 57% from the floor in the second stanza, led by 13 more points by White to round out his game-high of 26 points. Desmond Quincy-Jones recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

 

Junior guard Justin Gardenhire (Rosedale, N.Y.) netted 12 points and senior forward Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y.) picked up 10 to join Bell in double figures for the Owls. Mazzarella finished with a team-high eight rebounds and matched his career-high of five blocked shots.

 

For the game, Southern Connecticut shot 29-for-58 (50%) from the floor, 5-for-10 (50%) from three-point range and 10-for-15 (67%) from the free throw line. Pace shot 28-for63 (44%) from the field, 8-for21 from behind the arc and 21-for-27 (78%) from the charity stripe.

 

The Owls are back in action on Thursday night, as they return home to Moore Fieldhouse to host the Le Moyne Dolphins in a Northeast-10 Conference showdown. The action tips off from New Haven at 7:30 p.m. and live via the Internet with Don Boyle calling the action at www.SportingNewsCT.com.