Box Score

EASTON, Mass. - The Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team dropped its second game in a row on Wednesday night in a 75-62 loss at Stonehill. The defeat was the team's first this season by double digits and it was also the first game all year in which the Owls never held a lead. Seniors Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) each tied for the game-high with 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) added nine points off the bench and sophomore Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) led the squad with five rebounds. The team shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field and just 19 percent (4-for-21) from three-point range in the game.

The Owls struggled to gain traction shooting early on, starting the game 4-for-14 from the field, while missing their first seven three-point attempts over the first 12 minutes.

After falling behind 7-2 early, Desmond Williams got the team within 7-6 with a jumper. The Skyhawks countered with a 20-4 run over the next 8:50 to balloon the lead to 27-10.

After that the Owls' shots started to fall as Smith sank the Owls first three of the game, sparking a 16-2 run that got the team back with three at 29-26 with 2:50 remaining until halftime. Following Smith's three, Houston completed a four-point play on the next trip up the court, and added one more three after that, forcing a Stonehill timeout with 5:21 to go in the opening frame. Following the stoppage, junior Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) tallied his first a layup of the game, followed by back-to-back buckets by Houston, bringing the score to 29-26.

A Smith layup with nine seconds on the clock brought the Owls back with 34-28 going into the locker room.
Southern shot 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from the field in the first 20 minutes, while allowing the Skyhawks to collect seven offensive rebounds. Houston led all scorers in the opening half with 13 points.

Southern got back within three points just 11 seconds into the second half following a Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) three-pointer, but that would be as close as the Owls got. Stonehill uppped the lead back to double digits three minutes later and held a 13-point, 52-39 lead at the 11:23 mark, forcing a SCSU timeout.

The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes with Southern getting within 58-50 with 8:22 to go. From there, the Skyhawks advantage grew to as much as 15 with 3:30 to go. Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.) and Smith each added two free throws apiece before the Skyhawks ran out the clock, ending with a final score of 75-62.

The Owls return home on Saturday afternoon for a rematch of last season's NCAA Regional semifinal against Franklin Pierce. Tip off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., following the women's game.