Freshman Ryan Logan led the Skyhawks with 13 points and seven rebounds. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds) |
Owls ride three 20 point scorers to fourth straight win
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (January 22, 2014) – Southern Connecticut State University, among teams receiving votes in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll, claimed a 110-84 triumph over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Moore Fieldhouse tonight.
Senior Greg Langston (Stratford, Conn./St. Joseph's), junior Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn./Kingswood-Oxford) and sophomore DeShawn Murphy (Hamden, Conn./Hyde School) combined to score 63 points with all posting 20-point outings to lead Southern Connecticut State to its fourth straight win. Smith led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, while converting 4-of-5 free-throws to go with four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Murphy added 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, and converting 2-of-3 free-throws to go with two rebounds, while Langston contributed 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 2-for-4 from deep, and converting all four free-throws with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Junior Luke Houston (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) posted 16 points, nine rebounds (six offensive) and two steals for the Owls. Freshman Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn./Holy Cross) rounded out Southern's five double-figure scorers with 12 points, connecting on 4-of-6 three-pointers, with four assists and three boards.
Freshman Ryan Logan (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) led Stonehill with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, converting his lone three-point attempt and all four free-throws, to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Stuart McEwen (Sydney, Australia/Saint Thomas More (Conn.)) added a career-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, converting his lone free-throw attempt with three rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Pierce Cumpstone (Bainbridge Township, Ohio/Kenston) contributed 11 points, two boards and a blocked shot off the bench, while classmate Carter Smith (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) chipped in nine points, six rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Stuart McEwen added a career-best 12 points tonight. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Southern Connecticut shot 48.8-percent (41-for-84) from the field, including a blistering 58.6% (17-for-29) from three-point range, on the night as it converted 11-of-14 (78.6%) free-throws. The Owls hit 10-of-14 (71.4%) three's in the second half after shooting 52.4% (22-42) from the floor in the first half. The Owls turned the ball over just eight times, compared to 19 for Stonehill, and finished with a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Skyhawks shot 43.2% (32-74) from the field, including 45.7% (16-35) in the first half, and made 9-of-22 (40.9%) three-pointers and converted 11-of-17 (64.7%) free-throws.
Stonehill scored eight of the first 11 points to stake out an early five point lead after back to back three-pointers from sophomores Adam Bramanti (Middleton, Mass./Masconomet Regional) and Josh Heyliger (Queens, N.Y./The Hill School) in the opening two minutes. Southern followed with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take a four point lead (14-10) with back to back baskets by Smith after Murphy knotted the score with a three-pointer.
A basket by freshman Jimmy Walsh (Manasquan, N.Y./Manasquan) and a pair of free-throws by Logan knotted the score at 14-14 five minutes into the half. Langston gave Southern a three point lead (17-14) with 14:23 remaining in the half, but Stonehill grabbed the lead back (18-17) with jumpers from Walsh and Smith just a minute later.
Southern Connecticut started to take over from there, using a 13-0 run to open a 12 point lead (30-17) on a Houston layup with 11:17 remaining in the half. Smith and Mallory sparked the run with three-pointers for the Owls. Southern pushed the lead to 15 (35-20) after another Mallory three with 9:08 left, but Stonehill scored eight straight points, keyed by a pair of Smith triples, to draw back within seven (35-28) with 8:17 on the clock.
Southern answered with eight straight points of its own to reclaim the 15 point (43-28) edge after a Smith layup with 6:04 left. The Southern lead was 14 (52-38) after a Cumpstone layup for Stonehill with 1:55 remaining in the half and then the Owls reeled off seven straight points to open a 21 point cushion (59-38) following three point play from Murphy with 48-seconds to play.
Southern settled for an 18 point (59-41) halftime lead but quickly pushed the advantage to 25 (70-45) after a Murphy tip-in two and a half minutes into the second half. The Owls lead wouldn't dip below 20 points the rest of the way, peaking at 36 (97-61) after a Murphy three with 7:18 remaining.
Stonehill (5-11, 2-9 NE-10) returns home on Saturday to host the University of New Haven at 3:30 p.m. The College will honor its 1989 NE-10 Championship winning team as well as formally induct Jon Cronin, '92, into the NE-10 Hall of Fame that afternoon. Southern Connecticut State (15-2, 9-2 NE-10) visits 21st-ranked Franklin Pierce University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
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