Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team hung in tough to finish off Merrimack College 80-77 at Bert Hammel Court on Tuesday afternoon. Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) led all scorers with 26 points, while Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) pitched in with 16 points and 13 boards - his eighth double-double of the year - and Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) added 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

With the win, the Owls improve to 13-3 overall and 8-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Warriors fall to 8-8 and 3-7 in the conference.

Merrimack had the lead early on in the game before Southern grabbed it in the middle of the first half and held it until midway through the second. A technical foul called on the Owls allowed Merrimack to shoot two free throws to tie the game at 56 with 10:16 remaining. They took the lead with two more free throws shortly thereafter. The lead would change five more times before the end of the game.

The Owls responded with a quick 9-0 run sparked by a D. Williams layup off a scramble and a fast break layup by Williams from Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.). That gave Southern a 65-58 lead with 8:18 remaining.

Merrimack's Gelvis Solano would respond with a 8-0 personal run on three possessions to give his team a 66-65 lead. Solano was held scoreless in the first half but finished with 16 points, including going 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

The Owls would continue to fight as Carter converted an and-1 opportunity on the fast break started by Mallory. That gave Southern a 72-71 lead.

That was the beginning of a 9-2 run by Southern that was capped off by a Carter dunk with 1:55 remaining to give the Owls a 78-73 lead.

Up 78-75 with 20 seconds left, the ball got deflected from under the basket out to Wallace with the shot clock winding down. He fired a three and missed, but the offensive board was gathered by Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.), who kicked the ball to Mallory. He was fouled immediately and missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Merrimack came down the other end and ran their offense down three, but the Owls fouled with 2.8 seconds left, sending Solano to the free throw line for two shots. He made them both to cut the lead to 78-77.

On the Southern inbound, Merrimack fouled Mallory immediately and he made them both to give the Owls an 80-77 lead with 2.2 seconds left. The Warriors turned the ball over off the inbound pass to end the game.

Southern Connecticut has scored 80 points in all games this year.

The beginning of the game was back and forth, with neither team grabbing more than a four point lead for nearly the first ten minutes.

The Owls had a 14-13 lead when they began a 14-2 run led by Mallory, who scored half of the team's points during the three-and-a-half minute span. That gave Southern its biggest lead of the half at 13, 28-15.

Merrimack would cut into Southern's lead down to as much as five with 1:26 remaining. A Desmond Williams layup would extend the Owls' lead to 43-36 going into the break.

Mallory went into halftime as the game's leading scorer with 17 points on 3-of-3 from deep and 2 rebounds. D. Williams finished the first half on his way to a double-double with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Southern forced Merrimack into nine first half turnovers but only managed seven points off of them. The Owls turned the ball over just once in the first frame. Merrimack finished with 14 turnovers, while the Owls gave it away only six times.

Southern finished with 44 points in the paint to 20 for Merrimack

Merrimack's Anthony Barry had a big first half with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds. He finished the game with 13 points and nine boards.

Southern Connecticut returns to action on Saturday when it travels to No. 12 Saint Anselm for a game at 3:30 p.m.