Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The No. 2 Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team pulled out a tough victory over Saint Rose Saturday afternoon, 86-79. The Owls were down by as much as 14 in the second half but they shot 57-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes behind 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting by Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.). 



With the win, the Owls improve to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the NE-10 while Saint Rose falls to 5-3 and 3-2.

Southern Connecticut trailed by two at the half and did not take the lead until 4:10 was left in the game. The score was 70-65 when Southern went on a 12-0 run in a two minute span to take a 77-70 lead with 3:09 remaining. Freshman Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) scored all of his seven points of those during that span. That run was part of a larger 24-6 Owl run to take a 79-71 lead with 1:59 remaining. The Owls went 7-of-7 from the field in the final seven minutes of the game and Mallory shot 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from three in the second half. He scored 20 points in 15 second half minutes.

Southern Connecticut also went 7-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.



The Owls had as much as a seven point lead late in the first half but gave it up in the final few minutes. Three three-pointers by Shane Herrity and Jack Jones brought Saint Rose back into it and a layup right before the half by Mical-Ryan Boyd gave the Golden Knights a 42-40 lead at the break. They extended the lead to as much as 14 before Southern began to chip away.

Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, 14 rebounds (career high), six assists, three blocks (career high) and three steals. It was his fifth double-double in seven games. Eric Ross (Chicago, Ill.) tied a career high with 10 points - all in the first half - and posted a new career high with two blocks. The Owls finished with eight total blocks. 

Southern Connecticut will hit the road to take on Holy Family on Monday night at 7 p.m.