Box Score SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team defeated Le Moyne 83-70 on Senior Day. With the win, the Owls have clinched the top overall seed in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament.
Prior to the game, the team honored its four seniors: Luvas Van Nes (Hamden, Conn.), Stefon Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.), Jack McCarthy (Wallingford, Conn.) and Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.).Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) led all scorers with 27 points. D. Williams registered his 15th double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) also had a double-double, his second of his career, with 13 points and 10 boards. S. Williams put up ten points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds.
Southern Connecticut improves to 21-6 overall and 16-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Dolphins fall to 9-16 and 6-13.
The Owls held just a two point lead at halftime at 36-34. Southern extended its lead to as much as 13 midway through the second half after a Des Williams dunk and a
Stefon Williams layup followed by a Le Moyne timeout. The Dolphins got the deficit down to five after a quick 7-0 run capped off by a Tanner Hyland three-pointer. Hyland was a threat from deep, hitting 5-of-10 treys on the day, the most of any player.
Le Moyne would get no closer as the Owls went on a 13-5 run as S. Williams hit two layups, Mallory converted two free throws and Carter put up a layup and a three-pointer. Carter not only posted a double-double, but made all of his six shots from the field.
Southern Connecticut shot 62-percent both from the floor and from deep in the second half. The team also held Le Moyne to 43-percent shooting from the floor and 39-percent from three in the second frame.
The Dolphins had the lead from the beginning of the game until the 10:27 mark in the first half. Southern was down 18-15 when it went on an 11-2 run led by Mallory. He started the run with two consecutive jumpers and finished it off with a three-pointer to give the Owls a 26-22 lead with 8:55 remaining in the half. Southern went on a three minute dry spell of no field goals until Mallory converted an and-1 to give the home team another one point lead.
Isaiah McLeod (Cambridge, Mass.) knocked down a three at the 1:04 mark to give SCSU a six point lead, but the Dolphins hit four free throws in the closing minute to close the gap to two at the break.
Southern Connecticut plays its final regular season game at Pace on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
