Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The No. 9 Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team held on to defeat Pace 84-74 in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon. Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) finished with game highs in points (29) and assists (nine) and also chipped in three rebounds, one steal and two blocks, including one on Pace's Kyle Pearson in the second half that brought the crowd to its feet.



With the win, the Owls improve to 8-2 on the year and 4-1 in the NE-10, while the Setters fall to 5-5 and 3-2.

The Owls' biggest lead in the first half was eight points when it was 14-6 at 14:03. It was close for the entire first 20 minutes - neither team took a double digit lead and there were five ties. Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) converted an and-1 opportunity to make it 35-29, Owls, with 4:11 remaining in the half. Then, Pace went on a 13-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Ryan Peterson to give the Setters a five point lead at the break. Peterson, Pace's leading scorer, finished with 20 points and seven boards. He played all 40 minutes.

Pace maintained its lead until 11:41 in the second half when Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) hit a layup to tie the game at 54. It was the sixth tie of the game. Pearson came back two possessions later with a layup to give the Setters the lead for the last time. Isaiah McLeod (Cambridge, Mass.) hit a jumper the next trip down the court to tie it back up and Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) followed with a three-pointer to give Southern the lead for the rest of the game. The Owls outscored Pace 28-18 in the final 10:17 in the game. Mallory had nine of of those 28 points.

Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) put in a season high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with five boards, two assists and one block. Carter had a season high in blocks on the night with four - twice as many as the second leading player on either team. Carter also chipped 11 points and five rebounds. Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) got his first double-double in three games - he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 boards. He has six double-doubles in ten games this year. Southern Connecticut finished with five players in double figures, the first time that happened since November 15 at Bridgeport - just eight games ago.

The Owls finish this week with a record of 2-1. They return to action on Thursday, December 17 when they travel to Caldwell.