Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In a tight game that never saw a double digit lead, the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team erased a halftime deficit to defeat Southern New Hampshire 95-92 at Moore Field House on Wednesday night.

With the win, the Owls improve to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in the NE-10, while the Penmen fall to 10-8 and 6-5 in the conference.
 
Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) tallied 37 points for the Owls, his second highest scoring output this season (43 vs. American International). Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) recorded his ninth double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He nearly recorded a triple double with nine blocks – the most for an Owl player since Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) posted six at Assumption on January 31, 2015. Joey Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) notched his first double-double of his career with 15 points and a career high 10 rebounds. Carter was close to a double-double with seven points and 12 boards.


 
Up one with the clock winding under 30 seconds, Mallory got the ball at the top of the key and nailed a clutch three-pointer, his fifth of the game, to give Southern Connecticut a four point lead with 14 seconds left. Adrian Oliveira of Southern New Hampshire sprinted down the court for a layup in eight seconds to get back to within two. Mallory was fouled on the ensuing inbound pass with four seconds left. He made the first free throw to make it 95-92, and then missed the second. Daquaise Andrews got the rebound and fired it up court to Devin Gilligan who shot a three at the buzzer, but Williams was there to get a fingertip on the shot and give the Owls their 15^th win of the year.
 
Southern Connecticut trailed 41-38 at halftime and allowed a quick 4-0 run to SNHU to start the second half. The Penmen's lead would reach eight with 17:51 remaining – their largest lead for the rest of the game. The Owls responded with a 12-2 run. Jack McCarthy (Wallingford, Conn.) scored six points out of those 12 to help SCSU take a 54-52 lead at the 13:50 mark. McCarthy finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes. All of his field goals came in the paint, where he was able to get good position on the low block multiple times.
 
The lead would change four times in the next three minutes and seven times in the rest of the game. The Owls had a six point lead with 8:04 left when SNHU went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 73. After a McCarthy layup and free throws by Mallory and Wallace, the Penmen took a two point lead with a layup by Gilligan and a three pointer and two free throws by Andrews. Gilligan finished with 19 points, Andrews with 15 points and 10 rebounds. They were two of five players in double figures for the Penmen.


 
Southern Connecticut managed to tie the game at 84 with 2:29 remaining. Then, SCSU went on a 7-0 run capped off by a fast-break Wallace dunk that brought the home crowd to its feet. Southern New Hampshire calmly came back as BJ Cardarelli hit a three-pointer to climb back to within one point with 41 seconds left. Cardarelli finished with 17 points and four three-pointers made.

The Owls shot 56.8-percent (21-of-37) in the second half and 61.5-percent (8-of-13) from deep, a stark contrast to what they shot in the first half (16-of-42 and 3-of-12). They also pulled down 49 rebounds, the second most recorded this season (53 at Saint Michael's). In addition, two players posted a double-double for the first time since February 18, 2015 when D. Williams and current assistant coach Luke Houston posted double figures in points and rebounds.

Southern Connecticut returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Franklin Pierce for a game at 3:30 p.m.