Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The No. 23 ranked Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team had its nine game winning streak snapped in their regular season finale on Tuesday evening, falling for the second time this season to American International by a score of 95-87. In a wild, down to the wire game that could potentially be a Northeast-10 championship preview, sophomore
Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) led all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Senior
Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) had 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting and junior
Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) had 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. A combined 51 fouls were called on both teams, as Southern shot just 20 percent (4-for-20) from three point range and 66 percent (23-for-35) from the free throw line. The Owls end the regular season with a record of 22-6 (16-4 NE-10), while the Yellow Jackets improve to 20-6 (15-5 NE-10).
A rocky first half saw 28 fouls (13 on SCSU, 15 for AIC) called. American Int'l built an advantage from the free throw line, shooting 79 percent (15-for-19) in the opening half, while the Owls struggled at 41 percent (7-for-17). The Owls field goal shooting also struggled in the opening half (39 percent/13-33), while the Yellow Jackets sank seven three pointers.
The two teams traded hoops over the first few minutes before the Yellow Jackets took control of the lead, building it up to 18-10 five minutes in. The lead grew to 10 over the next three minutes following a jumper by Marcus Porter to make it 25-15.
Mallory's second three of the game got the Owls within 26-20, but Bobby Harris sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around two free throws to get the lead to a first-half high of 14 points at the 7:50 mark.
The Owls were unable to get within eight points before the half, as AIC built its halftime lead back up to 14 points. D.J. Gutridge had a layup with 14 seconds left, then following a Smith offensive charge, collected another as time expired to build the lead to 50-36 at the break.
Southern came out strong in the second half, scoring going on a 16-6 run. After a two-on-none breakaway dunk by the Yellow Jackets, Mallory answered with a fast break layup to make it 56-50. Smith got the Owls within four with two free throws and Houston drained one from long range with 10:18 to go to get the team within three at 63-60. A
Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.) layup got the Owls within one at 69-68, but Al-Shabazz Jabateh nailed a fast-break three to put AIC back up four with 6:35 remaining.
The Owls would grab the lead at 76-75 with two free throws from Mallory at 4:39. The teams would trade buckets and the lead over the next few minutes, as Mallory ran off six straight for the Owls before Smith made it 83-81 Southern with 2:34 to go.
Jabateh gave the Yellow Jackets the lead for good at 84-83 with a three-ball with just over two minutes to go. Cameron Dobbs would sink a fall away three with 1:33 to go to make it 89-85.
Desmond Williams was then fouled on the way up the court and hit two free throws to make it 89-87.
Dobbs hit a free throw for AIC with 32 seconds to go, before a steal by AIC led to a dunk with 24 seconds left, and a five point lead. The Jackets added another free throw and dunk off a steal as time expired to seal the win, 95-87.
With the regular season now complete, the Owls will be the No. 1 seed from the Southwest Division in the upcoming NE-10 Conference Tournament. Southern will have a first round bye, before hosting a quarterfinal game on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
