February 7, 2009
MBB: LE MOYNE CRUISES PAST SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE,
76-43
Syracuse, N.Y. - Junior forward Laurence Ekperigin
(Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) registered his 16th
double-double of the season to lead the Le Moyne College men's
basketball team to a 76-43 win over Southern Connecticut State on
Saturday at Ted Grant Court.
Ekperigin, who moved into 17th place on the College's career
scoring list with 1,226 career points, recorded 16 points and 12
rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Senior swingman
Phil Barnes (Georgetown, Cayman Islands/Clinton
C.C.) posted 12 points and seven rebounds, while freshman
guard Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst,
N.Y./Lindenhurst) added 10 points. Preston Bell led the
Owls with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Dolphins scored the first seven points of the contest to take
a lead they would never relinquish. Following a layup by Bell with
17:24 to get the Owls on the board, the Dolphins rattled off 11
consecutive points, capped by a pair of foul shots from junior
center Mike McDonough (Ogdensburg,
N.Y./Ogdensburg). Ekperigin started the run with a layup
and an ally-oop dunk off a feed from freshman guard James
Cormier (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull/Proctor Academy
(N.H.)).
Following an 11-6 spurt by Southern Connecticut State, Le Moyne
used a 16-3 outburst to take a first half-best 24 point lead with
just over two minutes remaining in the stanza. Junior Kevin
Hassett (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Mountain/Iona College)
tallied the first four points for the Dolphins, while Ekperigin
registered seven. The Owls scored six of the half's final nine
points to cut their deficit to 43-22 at the half.
Le Moyne, which held Southern Connecticut to the lowest scoring
output by an opponent since limiting Franklin Pierce to just 40 on
Jan. 16, 2007, pushed its lead out to 29 points with an 11-3 spurt
to start the second half. Back-to-back jumpers by junior guard
Damani Corbin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglass)
and Johnson ignited the run, which was capped by a fast-break layup
by Johnson off a feed from Corbin at the 14:57 mark. The Owls
responded with a 12-2 run of their own to get within 19, but that
is as close as they would get the rest of the contest. Trevor
Harris tallied five points in the span, while Tocari Davis scored
the final four.
After back-and-forth play over the next six minutes resulted in a
63-41 Le Moyne lead, the Dolphins scored 11 straight points to take
a game-high 33 point advantage. Cormier hit a pair of
three-pointers around a three-pointer from Hassett and a pair of
foul shots by junior center Eduardo Archibold Brown (Panama
City, Panama/Mercershure Academy/West Georgia). Junior
guard Daniel Jason (Germantown, N.Y./Germantown)
hit his first career field goal to deliver the final score.
Le Moyne (13-10, NE-10 9-9), winners of four straight and six of
its last seven games, returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 10 in
Albany, N.Y. against The College of Saint Rose at 7:30 p.m. The
game can be viewed live in Central New York and the Capitol Region
on Time Warner Cable Sports.
-agate-
Le Moyne 76,
Southern Connecticut State 43
Southern Connecticut State (1-21, NE-10
0-17)
22
21
-
43
Le Moyne (13-10, NE-10
9-9)
43
33
- 76
