Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – For the second straight year, the Southern Connecticut State men's basketball team will play for a regional championship following the team's 86-65 win over top-ranked American International on Sunday night in Springfield, Mass. The Owls will make their third Sweet 16 appearance on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Southern New Hampshire, who came from behind to defeat USciences in their semifinal game. Senior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y.) led all scorers with 20 points, junior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) had his second straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, and sophomore Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) chipped in 17 points off the bench. Senior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) registered 12 points and junior Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) finished in double figures with 10 points. The Owls improve their record to 24-7 on the season, while the Yellow Jackets season draws to a close at 24-7.



The game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties, before the Owls pulled away over the final seven minutes, closing the game on a 23-5 run.

Tied 6-6, Stefon Williams put the Owls up 8-6, a lead they would hold until AIC went up 19-18 on a Bobby Harris three-pointer with eight minutes until halftime. Smith used three free throws to get the Owl lead up to 25-21 before the Yellow Jackets ran off six straight points to take a two point lead. Houston snapped the streak with one of his three first half triples to put Southern up by one with 4:49 to go.

The game would be retied three more times before halftime, when Stefon Williams tipped in a Mallory three-point miss as time expired to put SCSU up 37-35 going into the locker room. Houston led all scorers with 13 points on 3-of-7 seven shooting in the opening half.

Coming out of the locker room, the teams traded blows through the first five minutes, before an Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) jumper in the paint put the team up for good at 45-44. A free throw by Desmond Williams gave the team its largest lead of the night to that point, at 51-44.

Following an intentional foul call on the Owls with 9:58 to go, AIC missed a pair of free throws, but managed to trim the deficit down to three with a Marcus Porter layup at 7:43. From there, the momentum completely shifted as Mallory drained three straight points, and Houston, who played most of the second half with four fouls, scored on break-away layup off a D. Williams assist to make it 70-63. Williams added a layup moments later to give the Owls a double-digit advantage for the first time with 3:37 remaining. Sophomore Jonathan Paul (Westlake Villiage, Calif.) put an exclamation point on the win with a put-back with 23 seconds to go.

So. New Hampshire, the NE-10 runner-ups and region's No. 2 seed, enters Tuesday's showdown with SCSU holding a 23-7 record. The Owls won the only meeting between the two this season 75-70 in Manchester on January 7.