Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team had four players score in double figures on Saturday, led by senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) with a game-high 23 points in an 82-62 victory over Le Moyne. The win for Southern (17-5, 12-3 NE-10) extended its winning streak to four overall, including its fifth in a row over the Dolphins (14-9, 8-8 NE-10) dating back to last season. Junior Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.) had 18 points, five rebounds and two blocks on 8-for-13 shooting, sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) had 10 points, four assists and a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) added eight points and senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) tallied a game-high eight assists.

Southern wasted no time taking control, jumping out to a quick 13-0 lead just 2:08 into the game. Houston completed a four-point play just 14 seconds in, before Desmond Williams quickly turned a steal into three more points just seconds later. Murphy hit his first of two threes on the day just over one minute later, to put Le Moyne in a double-digit hole for the sixth straight game. Houston then used back-to-back triples to make it a string of five consecutive three-plus point buckets to start the game.

A Murphy bucket brought the lead to 20 for the first time at 31-11 with 9:31 until the half. The Dolphins were able to cut the deficit back down to 12 with just under three minutes remaining in the half, but quick layups from sophomore Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Houston, along with a Mallory three helped lift the team to a halftime advantage of 50-34.

In the first 20 minutes, Southern shot 19-for-23 (57.6 percent) overall, including 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from three point range.

SCSU maintained control throughout the second half, not allowing the lead to shrink under 14 points. A Houston layup with 15:25 to go cemented a 20-point Owl's advantage at 60-40. A Carter layup brought the lead to 25 just over a minute later and Mallory's third and final three with 8:09 on the clock gave the team its largest lead of the day – 26 points – 75-49. Stefon Williams concluded the Owl's scoring with a jumper in the paint with 3:23 to go, before Le Moyne scored the final six points of the game to bring the final tally to 82-62.

Southern shot just 35.3 percent in the final half, while holding Le Moyne to just 35 percent for the game, including 29 percent in the second stanza.

SCSU returns to Moore Field House for their next game on Wednesday (Feb. 11) evening at 7 p.m. when they host Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponent East Stroudsburg.