Complete Game Notes as a PDF

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team (1-13, 0-10 NE-10) is looking for their first Northeast-10 win this week as they travel to Lowell, Mass. on Wednesday, Jan. 14 for a night game against UMass-Lowell. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Costello Gymnasium. Later in the week, the Owls host conference opponent Merrimack for an afternoon game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17.

THE OWLS' OPPONENTS
During the 2007-08 campaign, the Owls and River Hawks of UMass-Lowell met twice as the home team was victorious in both meetings. In their second contest on Feb. 19 of 2008, the Owls got revenge as they won by a score of 61-43. UMass-Lowell leads the series, however, by one game with a record of 28-27. SCSU and Merrimack hold a similar rivalry as the series is tied at 16. The Warriors have won the previous two meetings but were defeated the last time they traveled to Moore Field House, which is were they will face the Owls on Saturday.

MAKING HIS PRESENCE KNOWN
The 6-7 center from Wallingford, Conn., junior John Mazzarella, ranks in the top-10 in six different categories within the Northeast-10 Conference. He ranks first in blocks (3.2), second in rebounds (9.9), third in field goal % (.547), third in offensive (3.6) and defensive (6.3) rebounds and eighth in minutes played (33.6). He has led the Owls in rebounds in eight of the team's 14 games and has posted four double-doubles this season including a career-high 20 points and 10 boards versus Pace. Recently he set another career-high with seven blocks at Franklin Pierce.

INCREASED PRODUCTION
In the last five games with the Owls, senior Terron Jones is averaging 11.6 points per game. He has posted double-digit figures in four of those contests including a career-high 16 points versus AIC. He also set a career-high with nine rebounds and dropped 12 points against Southern New Hampshire on Jan. 8. So far this season, Jones is well above his average from a year ago in both points and rebounds. He is averaging 11.6 points/game in 2009 compared to 4.7 from the 2007-08 campaign and is rebounding 6.8 boards a game versus 2.5.

OWLS ON THE HONOR ROLL
John Mazzarella has earned recognition on the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll twice this season. He was selected to the weekly honor roll on Dec. 1 for his performance against Pace and Dec. 15 for his performances against Stonehill and New Haven.

RETURNING A STRONG LINEUP
SCSU will look for its veterans to lead the team this season as they welcome back 10 returning players from last year's squad. Three of the team's top four scorers in 2007-08 return to the team's lineup including seniors Justin Gardenhire and Preston Bell as well as junior Trevor Harris.

WELCOME ABOARD
The Owls welcome two newcomers to this year's team including freshmen guard Chris Harris and forward Kieran Ramsey.

IN THE NORTHEAST-1O PRESEASON POLL
The Owls have been ranked No. 15 in this year's Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches Poll.

GOING OUT WITH A BANG
The Owls' defeated the University of Massachusetts-Lowell by a score of 61-43 in their final home game of the 2007-08 season. The team hopes for similar success this season on Senior Night, which will be played on Feb. 24 against Le Moyne at 7:30 p.m.

SETTING THE STANDARD
A trio of first year Owls in 2007-08, Andrew Zito, Lance Long and Tocari Davis, set career highs in the team's Feb. 16 game at Bryant. Zito scored a career-high 10 points. Long netted six points to mark a new career-best and also dished out a career-high three assists. Davis matched his career-high of eight points and set career highs in rebounds and assists with five of each. Davis played every minute of the game before fouling out with 22 seconds remaining.

RUNNING THE POINT
In 2007-08, Trevor Harris dished out a career-high 11 assists against Pace on Feb. 13. The Nanuet, N.Y. native was the Owls leading assist man on the season, as he dished out 102 dimes. Harris also led the 2006-07 club with 3.3 assists per game.

AN OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
In the 2007-08 campaign, the Owls scored a season-high 89 points in their win over Dominican on Dec. 28. Preston Bell led the offensive effort with a career-high 22 points. The Owls' previous season-high of 80 points came in the team's season opening loss to St. Anselm on Nov. 17. Southern Connecticut last scored 89 or more points in a game on Feb. 4, 2006 in a 102-92 overtime loss at Merrimack. SCSU last scored 89 or more points in a 40 minute contest on Feb. 25, 2003, when they defeated Le Moyne by a score of 91-75.

ON DECK
The Owls head back to the road next week for a NE-10 match-up versus Bentley. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20 in Waltham, Mass.