Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team will play in the NCAA East Region semifinals on Sunday night, after outlasting fourth-seeded Bridgeport 88-75 on Saturday night in the team's First Round matchup. Sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) led the Owls with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arch, while junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) picked up his eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) tallied 19 points and senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) added 10. The team put away the win with a late 8-0 run and shot 48 percent from the field in the game. The fifth-seeded Owls will carry a 23-7 record into tomorrow's matchup with top-seeded American International, while Bridgeport's season ends with a 24-7 record.

After a back-and-forth first several minutes, the Owls grabbed the lead for good at the 13:14 mark when junior Deshawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn.) sank a three to put Southern up 14-11; as part of a 10-0 run that helped build up a 10-point lead. The Purple Knights then cut the lead back to as close as three at 38-35 with 3:40 to go in the half. Williams countered by adding four quick points to go along with two from Smith and three from Mallory to build up a ten point lead. Bridgeport used four points in the closing seconds to make it a 47-41 Owls' lead going into the locker room.

SCSU increased its lead to a dozen, scoring the first six points of the second half. Southern held a double digit advantage for the first eight minutes before the Knights scored seven straight to cut the lead to five at 62-57.

The game would not get any closer until the 5:43 mark, when Murphy was given a dead ball technical foul following a made UB free throw. After the play was reviewed on the monitors and discussed by the officials, Devon Elliot hit one additional free throw to make it 71-67. Mallory then answered with two quick jumpers and Smith added a layup to quickly get the lead back to 10 with 3:14 to go.

After the lead grew to 13, UB used five points from Willie Williams III and a triple from Jesse Jones to get within five with just over one minute left. But, a huge steal by Smith off an inbounds pass led to two free throws that helped the Owls ice the game away.

Sunday's semifinal against American Int'l (24-6) will be the third meeting between the two schools this season, with the Yellow Jackets winning the first two matchups. AIC defeated Philadelphia University 58-53 in come-from-behind fashion on Saturday afternoon.