Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University Owls earned a hard fought 92-81 win over Adelphi on Saturday afternoon.
Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) finished with his twelfth double-double of the year with 25 points and 15 boards, tying a career high in rebounds.
Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) nearly matched him with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, two rebounds and one assist shy of his career high.
With the win, the Owls improve to 18-5 and 13-2 in the NE-10, while the Panthers fall to 17-7 and 9-7.
Southern Connecticut had a 21 point lead at halftime, its biggest of the game. In the second half, Adelphi got it as close as seven. With the Owls up 20 early in the second half, Adelphi went on a 16-5 run to pull to within nine. Mallory hit a three on the next SCSU possession to push the score back up to 12. Southern would maintain a double digit lead until the closing minute. Mallory finished the game 8-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-9 from deep. All three of his treys came in the second half.
The Panthers pulled to within seven after a Manny Suarez three. They fouled
Isaiah McLeod (Cambridge, Mass.) on the ensuing inbound pass and he sank both free throws.
Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished the game with a reverse dunk. Carter finished with 19 points, six rebounds and two blocks. McLeod had four points, four rebounds and four assists.
Adelphi used the long ball to get back into the game. Michael Coffey made a game high six three-pointers and finished with 24 points, tied for Adelphi's game high. As a team, the Panthers shot 14-of-41 (34-percent) from deep, including 10-of-22 in the second half. Conversely, Southern Connecticut forced 17 turnovers while turning it over just seven times themselves.
The first half saw SCSU jump out to a 9-2 lead and extend it to 27-13 halfway through the first frame. Williams was the star of the first half, posting 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds in 19 minutes. The Owls held Adelphi to just 24-percent (8-of-33) shooting in the first half, including going 4-of-19 from three.
Southern Connecticut's next game is Tuesday when they travel to American International for a game at 7:30 p.m.
