SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College men's basketball squad dropped a, 89-77, decision to Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 men's basketball action this evening from the Butova Gymnasium.
Despite holding Owl All-American Michael Mallory (Waterbury, Conn.) to just five points, AIC falls to 10-13 overall and 6-11 in conference play while SCSU improves to 19-5 on the year and 14-2 in the NE-10.
The Jackets used three's on back-to-back possessions from junior Juwan Moody (Pontiac, Mich.) and senior Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) early to grab an 8-4 lead two minutes in, however, the Owls turned it right back around with seven straight points capped off by a trey from senior Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) for the 11-8 lead at the 16:57 mark.
Southern extended that lead to as much as eight points after a traditional three-point play by Williams made things 29-21 midway through the half.
The Jackets kept pushing though eventually tying the game at 38 apiece with four straight free-throws by freshman Jayvon Pitts-Young (Portland, Maine) after a foul and a technical at the 6:11 mark. The rookie then tilted the lead in favor of AIC with two more from the charity stripe about a minute and a half later for the 40-38 edge.
The Owls eventually closed the half with a 10-2 run to go into the locker room with the 50-44 lead. The spurt was sparked by a three-ball from freshman Brett Buser (Glendale, N.Y.) at the 2:51 mark.
Southern Connecticut opened the second half strong eventually pushing their lead to double-digits after junior Austin Carter (Bloomfield, Conn.) sunk a pair from the free-throw line at the 16:34 mark making the score 61-51. The Owls continued to hit timely buckets and play solid defense as the teams traded scores for the majority of the second half.
Junior Rasheed Howard (Woodridge, N.J.) got the crowd into it with a powerful slam and senior Oscar Assie (Ansonia, Conn.) followed with a bucket in harm's way as part of a mini 6-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 76-71 with 5:18 remaining in regulation.
Williams then began to take over for SCSU driving the lane on three straight possessions and dialing in from long range for ten straight points he extended the lead back to 86-76 at the 1:26 mark. The Owls would proceed to hit their freebies down the stretch to close out the game.
Pitts-Young finished with a team best 15 points to pace the AIC offense while Dobbs and Moody chipped in with 11 and 12, respectively.
Williams led all scorers with 25 and added 12 boards while Carter collected 18 points and 18 rebounds as the only two double-digit scorers for the Owls. SCSU dominated the glass with a commanding 58-33 edge including 26 on the offensive side leading to 22 second-chance points.
The Jackets shot better from the floor at 45 percent (25-for-46) to just 39 percent (32-for-83) for the visitors, but the glass was the factor in the end.
AIC returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Pace for a 3:30 p.m. affair.
