Box Score

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. - Sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) netted his 1,000th career point in the final minutes of the No. 25 Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team's eighth win in a row, a 104-74 win at Pace on Wednesday night. It was the third time in the last four games that the Owls, who are fifth in the nation in points per game, topped the century mark. Mallory scored 12 of his 18 points over the game's final 4:27 to become the 28th one-thousand point scorer in program history. Senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) led the way for the Owls with 21 points and 10 rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting for his second straight double-double. Junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) had 15 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Junior Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) added 14 points, while senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) tallied 13, as Southern outscored Pace by a 61-32 margin in the second half. The Owls run their record to 21-5 (15-3 NE-10), while the Setters drop their 11th straight to fall to 5-21 (1-17 NE-10).

The Setters held a lead for a majority of the opening half as they tallied a 53.8 field goal percentage (14-for-26), including 50 percent (4-for-8) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. They used the strong shooting advantage to jump out to a 13-5 lead over the first five-plus minutes of the opening frame. The Owls then used a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the night, spurred by seven straight points from Houston and a tip-in from sophomore Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) to give the team a 14-13 lead.

The teams traded buckets for the remainder of the half. The 11th and final lead change of the half came with two seconds remaining when Jack McCarthy brought the Owls' faithful to their feet with a monster one-handed dunk, and sinking the ensuing free throw after being fouled to give the Owls a 43-42 lead going into the locker room.

That momentum poured right over to the second half as Southern ran off 22 of the stanza's first 26 points over the first 5:17. Kyle Pearson, who had a game-high 22 points for Pace, sank a three to get the deficit back to within 15 points  by the midpoint of the half, and Mike Demello used a triple to make it 82-67 with 6:30 remaining, but that was as close as the Setters would make it.

The Owls used a sizzling 60 percent shooting (24-for-40) and eight thee-pointers to put the game away. With 1:18 to go, Mallory was fouled while attempting a three-pointer, putting him at the line. He nailed all three, the second of which gave him his 1,000 career point. That concluded the Owls' scoring for the evening, and gave them their largest lead of the night at 34 points.

The Owls will hold their annual Senior Day on Saturday afternoon prior to their game against Saint Rose, which is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Moore Field House.