Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) tallied a career-high 35 points and shot 72.2 percent (13-for-18) from the field as the Owls ran past East Stroudsburg 107-88 on Wednesday evening at Moore Field House. Senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) and junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) each picked up double-doubles in the win. Smith had 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting and set a new career-high with 12 assists, while Williams sank 10 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds. Senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) sank 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists for the Owls, who shot 56 percent from the floor as a team, including 65 percent in the second half. Despite facing a full court press throughout the fast-paced game, Southern beat the press and held a 22-4 advantage in fast-break points. And thanks largely to Mallory, the Owl's bench outscored the Warrior's bench by a 48-21 margin. By eclipsing the century mark for the sixth time this season, Southern improves its record to 18-5 overall, while East Stroudsburg falls to 15-8. Both teams were ranked in the top five in the nation earlier this season.

Smith put the Owls up for good at 4-3 in the early going. The team built up an eight point lead of 21-13 at the 13:16 mark, before the Warriors got the deficit to with three following five quick points. The Owls countered with a quick run of their own led by four points from Smith and a pair from junior Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) to make it 29-19 with just over five minutes remaining until halftime.

A three-pointer by Mallory with 2:02 remaining gave Southern its largest lead of the half at 42-30. Following a Warrior's miss in the final seconds, sophomore Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) sent a pass ahead to Houston, who took the ball in alone and laid it in as time expired, giving the Owl's a halftime advantage of 44-34.

Mallory got the lead up to 18 with a slam at the 12:59 mark of the second stanza, before sinking a jumper just over a minute later to give the team its first 20 point lead of the ballgame, 74-54.


Senior Jose Cruz (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took an alley-opp pass from Desmond Williams with 5:55 remaining and dunked home his first two points of the ballgame, bringing the lead back to 21, at 93-72.


Southern eclipsed the century mark with the help of one of Mallory's eight threes with 3:05 remaining to make it 100-78. Mallory's final three of the ballgame two minutes later, paired with two free throws from Smith and a layup from junior Jack McCarthy (Wallingford, Conn.) concluded the Owl's scoring in the 19-point victory.


SCSU is scheduled to return to the court in a Monday afternoon matinee against Merrimack at 5:30 p.m. The game has previously been rescheduled twice due to inclement weather.