Box Score

OAKDALE, N.Y. – Junior guard Trevor Harris (Nanuet, N.Y.) had a game-high 18 points as the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team came away with their first victory of the season by defeating non-conference opponent Dowling, 58-53. The Owls are now 1-9 overall and 0-6 in the Northeast-10 as Dowling fell to 3-6 overall and 2-1 in their conference.

The Owls had 18 days off since their last game and the break seemed to pay off as the team found a way to get their first win. Led by Harris and senior guard Terron Jones (Bridgeport, Conn.), Southern managed a second half comeback to defeat Dowling for the second straight season.

In the first 20 minutes of regulation, the teams went back and forth throughout with six lead changes and four ties. The Golden Lions of Dowling grabbed their biggest lead of the game with 1:44 remaining in the half, up six, but a jump shot by junior guard Derrick Corbett (New Haven, Conn.) cut the lead to four and the Owls went into halftime trailing 34-30.

Southern gained the momentum in the second half after a fast break lay-up by sophomore guard Lance Long (New Haven, Conn.) tied the game at 44 with 7:42 remaining. The Owls defense was terrific in the final 20 minutes as they held the Golden Lions to only 19 points on 6-for-32 shooting from the field (18%).

Dowling kept the game interesting down the stretch by hitting their jump shots and tying the game more than once, however Jones made four foul shots in the final minute of play to pull away as the Owls recorded their first win of the season by the score of 58-53.

Harris and Jones were the only Owls in double-digits with 18 and 13 points respectively. Senior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded eight and junior center John Mazzarella posted six and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Owls return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 3 for their first Northeast-10 road game of 2009 against Assumption. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.