NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Southern Connecticut men's basketball defeated American International College, 84-80, in a overtime thriller in the First Round of the NE10 Tournament on Friday night. Southern improved to an overall record of 20-9 and an NE10 record of 13-9. American International finished the season with a overall record of 9-20 and an NE10 record of 7-15. All five Owl starters finished in double figures and two of them finished with double-doubles.
Marty Silvera led the team with 23 points, as he shot a team-best of 9-for-16 from the floor and had three rebounds. In addition, he dished out eight assists, a team-best of three steals and was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Josh McGettigan recorded 22 points, which included the three-pointer that sent the Owls into overtime. McGettigan had a team-best of four made three-pointers, grabbed eight rebounds and a steal against the Yellowjackets.
Kazell Stewart finished with another double-double, as he had 14 points and grabbed a team-best of 12 rebounds. Stewart dished out two assists and made four free-throws, which helped Southern tremendously in overtime, to get the first round victory.
Cherif Diarra had another double-double, with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Diarra led the team with made free-throws with five, shot 4-for-5 from the floor, had a block and an assist.
Mason Williams had 10 points, three rebounds and a steal against American International.
In the first half, the Yellowjackets got off to a hot start but the Owls came back to take the lead early on. This quick pace between the two teams would continue for the remainder of the game. It was a back and forth battle between Southern and American International, with both teams making shots, taking a slim lead and other team would chase down the lead. Nevertheless, the Owls held on for the last couple minutes of the first half, as the Yellowjackets cut the lead to only seven points going into halftime.
In the second half,
Cherif Diarra got the Owls's scoring started at the free-throw line. American International began their come back, as they steadily cut the lead to just two points in the 15th minute mark. The Owls continued to hit shots to keep an advantage but the Yellowjackets hit their shots at the right time. The score became even at 54-54, with nine minutes left to go as American International and Southern would trade the lead for the next few minutes.
With one minute remaining, the Yellowjackets made the key three-pointer that put them up by three-points but
Marty Silvera made two-free throws, to keep the score within one, with 69-68 in favor of American International. After the timeout, the Yellowjackets made two free-throws, which made the score 71-68 with 13 seconds remaining.
With just five seconds left on the clock,
Marty Silvera passed the ball to
Josh McGettigan who hit the game tying three-pointer, to make the teams even again at 71-71. American International and Southern Connecticut would go into overtime.
In overtime, Silvera had the jumper that gave the Owls their first lead and McGettigan hit jumpers, to put the team up by four points. Just like Southern, American International didn't back down as they got within a point with just 47 seconds remaining as
Kazell Stewart hit two important free-throws to make sure that Southern Connecticut had the advantage.
Cherif Diarra had a made layup with an assist from
Marty Silvera, to make the score 83-80 in favor of the Owls with just 18 seconds left. Yet again,
Kazell Stewart came to the free-throw line and hit a essential free-throw that put Southern up by four points. The clock ran out and the Owls finished with a 84-80 victory thriller, that would send them back to the NE10 Tournament Quarterfinals for the second-straight season.
The Owls will travel to Waltham, Massachusetts on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. to face #3 Bentley University in the NE10 Tournament Quarterfinals. Tickets for the game will be $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and youth under 18 and free for NE10 students with valid ID.
