NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team fell to Holy Family, 87-62, on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 at James Moore Field House. With the loss, the Owls fal to 3-6 overall, while the Tigers improve to 4-8.

Ulyen Coleman (Brockton, Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points for Southern, while Lyron Bennett (Boston, Mass.) added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with six assists and nine rebounds. Off the bench, Alex Lin (Hillsdale, N.J.) reached double figures in points for the second straight game with 10 on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 from three-point range. 

How It Happened
First Half

• Both defenses started the game strong, but it was Southern who held an 8-7 advantage after the first eight minutes. Lin sparked Southern's offense with five of Southern's first eight points, which included a three-pointer off a pass from C.J. Seaforth (Hamden, Conn.).
• Southern then went on a 7-0 run to take a 15-7 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining, their largest lead of the game, with Seaforth, Bennett, and Coleman combining for all of Southern's points. 
• Holy Family was able to cut Southern's lead down to two three times, but the Owls maintained the lead for the remainder of the half. After the Lions brought the score to 24-22, Southern went on an 8-2 spurt to bring their lead back up to 32-24. Holy Family responded with an 8-2 run of their own to end the half but Southern took a 34-32 lead into the break. 
• Bennett led the first half scoring for Southern with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. 

Second Half

• Southern opened the second half by scoring on their first three possessions to take a 41-34 lead. Holy Family immediately went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead since it was 2-0. 
• Coleman scored Southern's next five points, and Bennett tacked on a basket and Russell made a free throw to give Southern a 49-44 lead with 15:28 remaining. 
• The Lions then scored 10 straight points to take a 54-49 lead, and held a 60-55 lead with 9:37 remaining. Holy Family then outscored Southern 27-7 to end the game, and claim a road victory.

Notes

• Bennett recorded his second double-double of the season and the third of his career. He also had one on Dec. 7, 2021 and Feb. 22, 2020, both against Saint Rose. 
• Coleman has scored in double-figures in every game so far this season, while Bennett has reached the double-figure mark in eight of nine games. 
• Zack Penn (New Hartford, Conn.) grabbed at least 10 rebounds for the third time this season. 
• Lin has made five of his last eight three-point attempts over the last two games. 

Up Next
Southern is off from games for the rest of the calendar year, and return to action and Northeast 10 competition on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2022, at Pace. Southern is back at home on Jan. 8, 2022 against Bentley.