Michael Costeines – Staff Writer –
Fighting off a late second half surge by the visiting Bentley Falcons, the Southern Connecticut State Owls managed to clip there NE-10 foes 83-81 at Moore Field House.
The win gave the Owls (12-6, 9-5) there seventh in their last nine games.
Junior Greg Langston erupted for twenty-eight points on 12-22 shooting, including 22 in the second half. Langston’s critical driving floater, which rattled off the back and front rim before falling, proved to be the game winner with two seconds remaining.
It was one of many highlight plays for Greg, who used a multi-faceted array of baseline jukes, strong body controlled layups, and a top of the key three pointer after crashing into the scorers table to cap off his day.
“I wanted the ball late in the game for my team, and I was able get an isolation and used my body to get to the rim,” said Langston. It was a tough win, and I made the play late after we gave the lead away which was a little disappointing.” It was a big win for us because we have not defeated Bentley in quite a while”
The Falcons took a 1-point lead into the half, in which both teams shot nearly 50 percent from the field. The Owls hit six first half three-pointers, three each from Senior Trevon Hamlet and Freshman Deshawn Murphy, who led the team with twelve first half points.
In the second half, the Owls opened up a tight game with a 19-4 run to cap the largest lead of the game for either team at 74-56 following a layup by Sophomore Tylon Smith with 8:19 remaining.
From there, the Falcons inched back, going on a 24-6 run to tie the game at 81 with 34 seconds to go after a Shakir Phelps steal and layup. Langston then took a pass from Smith for the winning basket to avoid the epic collapse.
It is the twelfth straight game for the Owls that have been decided by six points or less.
They are now 7-5 in that span dating back to a loss on the road to cross-town rival New Haven.
“We are very streaky in going on runs and are either great sometimes or are really poor at others,” said Head Coach Mike Donnelly. “We kind off give up easy scores on defense and get a little bit complacent, even dating back to the beginning of the season. While we need to tighten up, when you have guys like Greg, who offensively was terrific and has an incredible motor, it was a nice win against a quality opponent.”
Hamlet finished the game with twenty-three points on 8-14 shooting and Smith filled the box score with thirteen points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Bentley had four players in double digits, including Phelps with 16 and Tyler McFarland with 18.
The Owls struggled from the free throw line, going only 12-20, nine of which game in the first half.
Bentley used a stronger performance from the line, making nineteen free throws. Their on-ball pressure and exploitation of the Owls lazy defense, gave the Owl faithful on hand a near scare.
“The joke in the locker room is that we like to make these games interesting,” said Smith. We just got to tighten up a bit more, talk out there and avoid these mental lapses we have. Luckily I got Greg the ball and he got the job done for us.”
