Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Freshman guard Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) scored a career-high 24 points to lead three Owls in double digits as the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team recorded a 72-60 victory over American International on Saturday afternoon. Prior to the game, the team honored its two seniors – Chris Harris (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kieran Ramsey (North Hollywood, Calif.).

The Owls moved to 11-12 overall and 9-10 in Northeast-10 Conference play with the win. AIC dropped to 7-16 overall and 5-14 in league action.

Smith connected on all eight of his field goals, including a troika of three-pointers, and also hit 5-of-6 free throws. He added five rebounds and team-highs of four assists and three steals. Trevon Hamlet (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 20 points, five rebounds and four blocks, while Greg Langston (Stratford, Conn.) contributed 13 points in the winning effort.



The game was tied at 11-11 just over six minutes into the first half when the Owls went on a 12-2 run to build a 10-point cushion at 23-13. They would not trail again in the game.

AIC countered with an 11-2 spurt to climb within a point at 25-24. However, SCSU closed the first half on a 13-4 run, capped by a three-pointer by Smith at the first half horn that made it 38-28 at intermission.

The Owls extended their lead to as many as 20 points, 60-40, with 8:13 remaining. The Yellow Jackets then rolled off a dozen straight points to get within eight, but would climb no closer.

Ramsey added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds in the contest.

The Owls shot 52-percent from the floor for the game (26-of-50) and 50-percent from behind the arc (9-of-18).

Southern Connecticut is back in action on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. for its home finale against LeMoyne.