Southern Conn. St. SCSU 6-4,2-0 NE10

Bentley Ben 8-4,1-2 NE10

Southern Conn. St. SCSU

6-4,2-0 NE10

Final

Jan. 04, 2026

Bentley Ben

8-4,1-2 NE10

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Southern Conn. St. SCSU	18	45	63
Bentley Ben	32	28	60

Summary
Box Score

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/4/2026 5:49:00 PM

SCSU Men's Basketball Defeats Bentley, 63-60, Behind Dominant Second Half

WALTHAM, Mass. – Southern Connecticut men's basketball overcame an early deficit to Bentley on the road before dominating play in the second half on its way to a 63-60 win in Waltham, Mass. The Owls are currently riding a four-game winning streak and improved to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference while Bentley dropped to 8-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

Malik Banks poured in a career-best, and game-high, 25 points including four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the Owls come-from-behind win. Justice Ellison and Cherif Diarra both rallied with double-doubles, as Ellison totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds while Diarra had 12 points and 12 boards. Ellison has now posted a double-double in four-straight games while Diarra has accomplished it in the last three.

Bentley came out of the gate with its foot on the gas while the Owls couldn't hit a shot. The Falcons scored the first 14 points of the game (14-0) and pushed its lead to 17-4. Bentley ultimately held a 32-11 lead with just over two minutes to play in the first half of the game. The Owls closed the half with a 7-0 run to head into the break trailing 32-18.

The Owls kept the momentum going as they came out of the break. Over the first seven minutes of the second half, the Owls pushed its run to 25-4 to tie with 13:45 to play. From there, the Owls kept control of the score and outscored the home team, 45-28, down the stretch.

Ellison was the driving force early in the second half, scoring 12 of the Owls' first 14 points as he poured in 15 in the second half. Banks had a team-best 17 points in the second half while hitting on 6-of-10 from the floor. Banks was also 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Diarra also totaled eight points and nine rebounds in the second to guide the Owls. As a team, the Owls converted on 48.5% (16-33) in the second half from the floor and 4-for-8 from three-point range. They also went 9-for-13 from the charity stripe.

The Owls are back in action when they travel to Pleasantville, N.Y. to take on Pace on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Southern returns home on Saturday, Jan. 10 to host Southern New Hampshire at 3:30 p.m.

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