Box Score

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Trailing by 10 with under six minutes remaining, the No. 10 ranked Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team closed the game on an 18-2 run to rally past LIU Post 88-82 on Tuesday night. Senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) scored 20 second half points and set new season highs with 26 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) tallied a game-high 28 points to lead the Owls. With the win, Southern improves to 8-1 overall, while the Pioneers drop to 3-5.

After falling behind 3-0, the Owls ran off the next eight points off a three pointer by senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) and five points from Mallory. LIU then countered with a 17-4 run of their own over the next 3:51 to take a 20-12 lead. Five different Pioneers scored during the run, with PJ Torres leading the way with six points.

At 11:18, a Mallory three tied the game at 22-22 before the Pioneers went on another run to get their largest lead of the half at 40-28 with 4:58 on the clock.

Trailing by 10 in the final seconds before halftime, Mallory put up a shot that was blocked, but quickly grabbed his own rebound and swished home a three-pointer at the horn to bring the deficit back within 49-42.

Mallory kept the Owls in the game in the first half, scoring 23 points through the game's first 20 minutes, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arch.

In the opening half, LIU Post shot 70 percent from beyond the arch (7-for-10) and 46 percent (15-for-42) from the field overall. They also sank 12 of their 14 free throws and forced eight Owl's turnovers. Torres netted 17 points through the first 20 minutes, and was 3-for-3 from three-point range.

Mallory picked up right where he left off following the half, sinking a three to get the Owls within four points at 49-45 just 37 seconds in. Southern got back within two points with 14:30 remaining after a three from junior Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.), but the Pioneers then used two three-pointers from Akosa Maduegbunam to help get the lead up to 13 points with 9:06 to go. Maduegbunam hit another three with 6:07 remaining to bring the LIU lead to 80-70.

From that point, the Owls scored 18 of the game's final 20 points. Smith added a layup and a pair of free throws, sandwiched around a Houston three-pointer to get the deficit to just three. After a foul, Houston sank three consecutive free throws with 3:31 remaining to tie the game at 80-80. After the Pioneers regained the lead off two free throws, Smith sank a three-pointer and a layup to give the Owls the lead for good. Houston and Smith added three free throws over the final 17 seconds to bring the game to its final of 88-82.

Over the final 6:37, Smith and Houston combined to score the Owl's last 19 points. Houston finished the game with 15 points and three steals, while Murphy contributed 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Southern will return home on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. for a non-conference matchup against Saint Michael's.