Bobby Martinez – Sports Writer
NEW HAVEN — Eight minutes into the game, Southern Connecticut’s men’s basketball was on pace to blow out Saint Rose College until freshman Isaiah Cosbert subbed into the game and changed everything.
“Their freshman,” said head coach Mike Donnelly, “is a good three point shooter. I think he had three 3’s in the first half. But I thought it was more of us just being completely out of rhythm.”
Prior to the game, the Owls were coming off an eight day break following an overtime thriller against Pace University who handed the Owls their first loss of the season 80-78. Donnelly said he was curious to see how his team would play after an eight day vacancy from lacing up their sneakers as a team and competing.
“I was worried about that because we had eight days off,” said Donnelly. “Our last game was against Pace and prior to that we had seven days off. So we only played one game in 14-15 days.”
Eight minutes into the game the Owls grabbed a 17-5 lead and it looked as if they would run away easily after the final regulation. One aspect of the Owls game in which they have relied heavily through the season, was their ball hawking defense. Despite turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, the Owls defense managed to allow just seven points off of turnovers.
Despite the fast start, Donnelly said his team had moments where they played sloppy and not have a balance on both sides of the ball.
“Sure enough,” said Donnelly, “ We just seemed to be a little bit unorganized offensively. Defensively I thought we were really good.”
With seven minutes left in the first half, both teams were dead even at 21 a piece until senior Greg Langston went to the foul line for a pair of free throws. Langston split both free throws giving the Owls the lead 22-21.
Coming off a five game suspension due to NCAA violations, both Deshawn Murphy and Jack McCarthy provided the Owls with much more depth and experience coming off the bench. Murphy, who last year was one of the top freshmen in the conference said Donnelly, played 11 minutes in the first half giving the Owls another offensive weapon from beyond the arc.
“Its huge for us,” said Donnelly, “ Because both guys add another dimension that we didn’t have prior. Jacks big for rebounding and I’m looking at the stat sheet and he had seven big rebounds. And Deshawn in my opinion was one of the best freshmen in the league last year. I look at him as a returning starter but for now I will bring him off the bench and that will change.”
Both teams went into the half tied 26 all after Saint Rose’s Dan Mundweller missed a possible go ahead layup as time was running out. The Owls went into the half ice cold from 3-pointers going 1-11 equaling a season low 11 percent. Overall the Owls shot for a combined 31 percent netting 10 of 32 shot attempts. With a furious comeback early due to the 3-point shots, Saint Rose shot 26 percent on nine of 34 attempts.
Donnelly said he told his team during halftime to focus and be patient on both sides of the ball if they want to finish the game with a win,
“I was pretty calm,” said Donnelly, “ And said hey, we are defending but we just got to be a little more organized and we made a couple more adjustments on how we wanted these guys to attack in transition. But that’s really how we play and that’s by getting stops, rebounds which we didn’t do a great job of and lets really run the floor,”
At the start of the second half, the Owls fell behind 34-30 until Langston trimmed the deficit by two off a steal which he finished with a layup. Murphy, who managed to make one triple in the first half, scorched Saint Rose in the second half from 3-point territory by scoring 12 points beyond the arc.
Donnelly said having Murphy back in lineup for the rest of the season helps his team fill a void they hadn’t had in the first five games of the season.
“It’s huge having Murph back because I think he has the ability to be a great shooter for us,” said Donnelly. “That’s something that we were lacking in the first five games.”
With 13:10 left in the game, junior point guard Tylon Smith and Langston were too much for Saint Rose to handle. Smith, who scored 6 points in two of four shot attempts in the first half, shot 6 for 11 with 13 points and two assists in the second half guiding the Owls to their fifth win of the season 76-65.
The Owls finished the game shooting 39 percent on 26-66 shooting. They finished the game shooting 66 percent from the strike which is tied for their second best percentage of the season. The Owls will play four more games before Christmas break beginning Dec. 7 on the road against American International College at 3:30 p.m. The Owls will then host University of Bridgeport at home on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Following their matchup against Bridgeport, they will have a three day break before they travel to Syracuse New York to take on Le Moyne College at 7 p.m. To wrap up their four game stretch before Christmas, the Owls will host University of New Haven on Dec. 22 at 3:30 p.m.
Before the Owls begin their four game run, Donnelly said he had seen a lot of things he liked that his team did in their match against Saint Rose. He said he is seeing how his team is beginning to develop as a both as a team and individually.
“I liked for the most part,” said Donnelly, “That we didn’t really have a lot down defensively. For the most part we kept our man in front and we did a good job. I really liked how we started to share the ball and guys started to play with more confidence and there was a rhythm established. Guys started reading things a little bit better and started communicating.”
