Box Score

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Senior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) of the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team tied a career-high on Wednesday night as he dropped 22, but a foul shot with 1 second remaining ended the Owls hopes of Northeast-10 road win. Ryan Woods of the Pace Setters hit one-of-two foul shots to give his team a 58-57 victory.

Southern fell short of their first conference win and have now fallen to 1-19 overall and 0-15 in the NE-10. The win for Pace marks the second time they beat SCSU this season as they improve to 7-12 overall and 5-9 in the conference.

The Owls opened the first half on a 12-2 run within the first seven minutes of play. They held the Setters to just 21.9% (7-for-32) from the field and with 5:21 remaining in the half, senior guard Terron Jones (Bridgeport, Conn.) hit a three-point play to give the Owls their largest lead of the game up 21-7. However, the Setters went on a run of their own and cut the lead to three to the end the half, trailing 26-23.

In the first half, Bell led all players with eight as he went 4-5 from the field. Jones and junior center John Mazzarella (Wallingford, Conn.) dropped six a piece as Southern shot 47.8%. Maurice Douglas led the Setters with five and Randy Wilson tallied four.

Despite a great run to end the first half, the Setters lost their momentum as the Owls held a lead for the majority of the final twenty minutes. With 2:56 remaining, Southern lost their lead as a lay-up by Adrian Mills tied the game, 55-55. After a couple missed jumpers by both teams, the Owls regained possession and Bell hit a jumper to give Southern a two-point lead with 33 seconds left. Mills responded 11 seconds later with a lay-up and with one second left, Ryan Woods was fouled and sent to the line. He hit the first foul shot and missed the second as the Owls dropped another devastating loss, 58-57.

The Owls shot extremely well in the second half as they went 15-for-25 (60%) but were outscored 35-31. Bell led all scorers with 22 on 11-for-13 shooting and was tied with two other Owls as he grabbed six boards. Jones joined him in double-digits with 10. Junior Trevor Harris (Nanuet, N.Y.) was the leading assist man with four, including seven points and six rebounds.

The Owls return to action next week as they travel to New Hampshire for their second meeting versus St. Anselm. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.