Complete Game Notes as a PDF

2008-09 SEASON COMES TO AN END
The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team (2-24, 1-20 NE-10) will wrap up their 2008-09 campaign this week as they host Northeast-10 opponent Le Moyne on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Moore Field House.

SENIOR NIGHT
On Tuesday night, Feb. 24, the Owls will honor their three seniors, Terron Jones, Preston Bell and Justin Gardenhire before their game against Le Moyne. Jones ranks third on the team with 10 points per game and third in rebounds with 5.9. He shoots 81% from the line to lead the team from the charity stripe and 54% from the floor. Bell is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 per game and fourth in rebounds with 4.7. Gardenhire ranks fifth on the team in points (7.1 per game) and is second in assists per game (2.5).

SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Le Moyne ranks sixth in the Northeast-10 with a 12-9 conference mark and 16-10 overall record. They have won seven straight contests and nine of their last ten. They are led by their junior star forward, Laurence Ekperigin. He ranks second in the conference with 19.1 points per game and is the leading rebounder with 11.7. Ekperigin also leads the conference in field goal percentage as he shoots .690 (194-for-281) from the floor and is third in blocks with 2.5 per game. As a team, the Dolphins shoot .483 from the field and .346 from behind-the-arc.

STEPPING UP
On Saturday, Feb. 21, freshman forward Kieran Ramsey stepped right up for the Owls as he dropped a career-high 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He also grabbed 13 boards; both stats were game-highs. Saturday's double-double against Merrimack was Ramsey's fifth of the season. As a freshman, Ramsey has proven he could be a strong contributor for the Owls in years to come.

LEADING THE WAY
Heading into their final game of the season, junior Derrick Corbett remains the leading scorer for the Owls with 11.3 points per game. Joining Corbett in double-digits are seniors Preston Bell (10.9) and Terron Jones (10). Corbett also leads the Owls in 3-point field goals made with 39 on 113 attempts (.345). He is second on the team in 3-point field goal percentage behind sophomore Lance Long who makes .421 percent from behind-the-arc but has only taken 19 attempts. Jones has made the most trips to the line and is shooting .819 percent from the charity stripe. In other statistical categories, junior John Mazzarella leads the team in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (2.5) and freshman Chris Harris is the leading assist man (2.7).

BLOCK PARTY
As of Feb. 23, John Mazzarella ranks second in the Northeast-10 Conference with 2.5 rejections per game. Earlier in the season, Mazzarella had a career-high seven blocks against Pace (1/10). He has also had two other games this season in which he blocked six shots each.

OVERTIME THRILLER
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Owls faced off against St. Michael's for the second time this season and first time at Moore Field House. The Purple Knights forced overtime but the Owls remained composed. In the final five minutes, freshman guard Chris Harris took control and dropped two buckets to tie the game at 64-64. With 31 seconds remaining, senior guard Terron Jones was fouled and sent to the line. He hit one of two foul shots to give his team the lead and the victory, 65-64.

LEADING THE OWLS TO VICTORY
In the game against St. Michael's (2/10), Terron Jones had the game of his career. He dropped 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting and grabbed 11 boards, both career-highs. Most importantly, his performance led the Owls to their first Northeast-10 win. Jones was also 5-for-6 from the line and made the game winning foul shot with 31 seconds remaining to defeat St. Michael's in overtime, 65-64. The Purple Knights had no answer for Jones as he continuously made great back-door cuts for easy lay-ups.
COMING UP SHORT
On Thursday, Jan. 22, the Owls traveled to Felician College for a non-conference road game. Down by four with 23 seconds remaining in the second half, junior Derrick Corbett entered the game and gave the Owls the spark they needed. Corbett came off the bench and hit a lay-up right away to cut the margin to two. The Owls then sent Ethan Kennedy to the line as he went 1-for-2 to give Felician a 79-76 lead with seven seconds left. Southern went right back to Corbett as he nailed one from downtown with one second remaining, lifting his team into overtime. In the OT, Corbett dropped another three and the Owls looked as if they were headed toward victory. However, Felician responded by hitting back-to-back three's to tie the game at 86. The Owls had a chance to end the game but a missed lay-up followed by a defensive rebound and a foul, sent Richard Fegins to the line with half a second remaining. He hit one of two foul shots as the Owls left New Jersey with a devastating loss, 87-86. Despite falling short, the Owls showed improvement as their 86 points was their highest scoring output of the season.

GUARD CONTRIBUTION
Senior guard Justin Gardenhire and junior guard Derrick Corbett accounted for 28 of the team's 38 second half points in a losing effort to Merrimack on Saturday, Jan. 17. Corbett dropped a season-high 20 points in the game as he led the team in scoring for the third straight contest. In that span, he posted 15 at Franklin Pierce, 19 at UMass-Lowell and 20 versus Merrimack. During those three games, Gardenhire increased his scoring output as well. Against Merrimack, Gardenhire tallied all of his 15 points in the second half and dropped 12 a game earlier at UMass-Lowell, going 8-for-10 from the line.

CAREER HIGHS
Three Owls set new career highs as they fell short to Pace at home on Tuesday, Nov. 25. John Mazzarella netted 20 points, outscoring his old career high by nine. He also posted a career high in assists with five. Kieran Ramsey set career highs in points (17) and rebounds (17) in only his fifth game with the Owls. Lance Long set a new career high in points with eight and Andrew Zito tied his at 10.

DOWNLOW PRESENCE
Junior center John Mazzarella and freshman forward Kieran Ramsey had a combined 46 rebounds in two conference games on Nov. 19 and Nov. 22. Mazzarella had back-to-back games with a career-high 15 rebounds a piece and totaled six blocks. Against St. Rose (11/22) he dropped a double-double with 10 points and 15 boards. On Nov. 22, Ramsey recorded his second double-double in only his fourth game with the Owls and set a career-high 16 points against Saint Michael's.

OWLS ON THE HONOR ROLL
Senior guard Terron Jones, junior center John Mazzarella and freshman Kieran Ramsey have earned recognition on the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll this season. Ramsey was the latest member of the team to be honored. On Feb. 24 he was selected for his performance against Bentley and Merrimack. Jones was selected on Feb. 16 for his play against St. Michael's and Stonehill. Mazzarella was selected twice, once on Dec. 1 for his performance against Pace and the second time was on 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.