Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team handed Le Moyne its first home loss of the year 83-72 behind a strong second half from Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.), who finished with 28 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) also had a good all-around game with 12 points, nine boards, two blocks and two steals.

The Owls had a four point lead at the half but Mallory scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half on 9-of-13 shooting. He scored five straight to begin the second frame to give Southern Connecticut a 44-37 lead and force a Le Moyne timeout.

Eriq Jenkins of the Dolphins hit a three coming out of the break, but Williams scored two straight buckets and Mallory added one himself to to give Southern a 50-40 point lead.

The teams continued to trade baskets until Le Moyne closed the gap to two with a three by Anthony Richards, but a Mallory layup and jumper brought the lead back up to six.

A Qwadere Lovell three pointer cut Southern's lead in half, 58-61, but back to back three's by Mallory and Isaiah McLeod (Cambridge, Mass.) made it 67-58, Southern. Then, Mallory hit a layup and the foul to give the Owls a 70-58 lead. The Owls would close out the game going 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Southern Connecticut shot 59-percent from the field in the second half, thanks in large part to Mallory. They also had just four turnovers in the game, their lowest of the season. The team's previous low was eight.

Southern Connecticut began the game on an 8-0 run sparked by Carter. He had a layup and a block on the first two possessions of the game, then followed it up with a steal and a layup the next time the Dolphins had the ball.

Le Moyne responded by hitting their next three shots, two of which were threes, on an 8-3 run to get back into the game. Southern increased the lead with an 8-2 run of its own to go up 19-10.

At that point, the Dolphins began a 15-5 run with two straight three pointers by Lovell and Richards to take a one point lead at 25-24. Southern came back with a Carter layup and a Williams jumper to go up three, but Lovell hit a three to tie it. Carter responded with a layup on the following possession and McLeod closed out the first frame with a layup to give the Owls a 37-33 lead.

The Dolphins shot 13-of-28 in the first half and 7-of-18 from three, good for 21 of their 33 points. Southern shot 17-of-35 with five offensive rebounds and 22 points in the paint out of 37 in the first half.

The Owls return to action on Wednesday when they host Saint Michael's at 7:30 p.m.