Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Five players scored in double figures as the No. 19 Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team defeated Merrimack, 88-76.

Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) led the Owls with 28 points.  The junior also had six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Greg Langston (Stratford, Conn.) totaled 17 points.  The senior, who finished a rebound shy of a double-double, had three assists.

Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) came off the bench to contribute 12 points.  The freshman also grabbed six rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals.

Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.) added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) had three steals and 10 points.

The Owls fell behind their hosts early on, trailing by nine, 24-15 over eight minutes in.  The visitors slowly caught up to the Warriors.

A Langston jumper at 5:28 gave SCSU its first lead in 13 minutes, 34-33.  The teams proceeded to trade baskets for the remainder of the half; there were 10 lead changes and five ties during the first half.  At the intermission, the Owls led 47-46.  Smith led Southern Connecticut with 14 points at the break, while Gelvis Solano had 25 first-half points for Merrimack.

The game changed shortly after the break. SCSU opened up a 10-point advantage, 61-51, six minutes into the second half. Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) successfully completed a three-point play during the 12-0 run.  Carter swatted away four shots and grabbed six rebounds in the contest.

From thereafter, the Owls' led by double digits until there were three minutes left in the Northeast-10 Conference game.  The Warriors cut the lead down to seven on a pair of Solano free throws with 2:22 left.  However,  Mallory made a layup before knocking down a pair of shots at the charity stripe to seal the road win.

Solano led all scorers with 35 points.

SCSU, now 17-2, 11-2 Northeast-10 Conference, will host Assumption on Saturday afternoon.