New Haven, Conn. - Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year Michael Mallory scored 15 second-half points as top-seeded Southern Connecticut State University held on for a 62-55 victory over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team on Wednesday night in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinals at Moore Field House.

The Dolphins, ranked seventh in this week's NCAA East Region rankings, drop to 17-11 on the season and now await word on a possible bid to the NCAA Championships. The eight-team East Regional field will be announced on NCAA.com on Sunday at 10:30 p.m. along with the other seven regions.

Graduate student center Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) led the Dolphins with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. He tallied 12 of his points over the opening 11 minutes of the game, while his fourth rebound of the contest gave him 700 for his career and his third block gave him 79 for the season, the second-most in the program's history. Junior guard Naté Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie/Quinnipiac) tallied 12 points as the only other Dolphin in double-digits, while pulling down eight rebounds.

Mallory finished the game with a double-double of 17 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, including four offensive. Luke Houston recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, while Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year Greg Langston registered 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Dolphins opened the game with six of the first eight points before Southern Connecticut tallied seven of the next nine for a 9-8 lead with 15:03 remaining in the first half. Four different Dolphins scored Le Moyne's eight points, while four Owls also scored, including a three-pointer by Houston.

After Mallory made a lay-up for the 9-8 lead, Janson scored eight straight points to put the Dolphins in front, 16-9, with 12:36 remaining and force a Southern Connecticut timeout.

The teams then went back and forth over the next seven and one-half minutes, with Le Moyne's lead bouncing between five and nine points and settling at eight (25-17) with 4:59 left on a Gause three-pointer. Gause had seven of Le Moyne's nine points in the span, while Houston had four of Southern Connecticut's eight points.

The Owls closed out the half with the last 10 points over the final 4:12 to go into halftime leading 27-25. Tylon Smith started the run with a conventional three-point play, Houston made a jump shot and two free throws and then Deshawn Murphy nailed a three-pointer from the right wing.

Southern Connecticut, the top-ranked team in this week's East Region rankings, scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to open up a 38-27 lead with 14:38 remaining. Five different Owls scored in the stretch, including a three-pointer from the left wing by Mallory.

The teams then traded points over the next three minutes, resulting in a 44-33 Southern Connecticut advantage.

The Dolphins followed with five straight points to cut their deficit to six with 10:39 left, but the Owls pushed their lead back to 10 with 9:32 remaining on a three-point play by Langston and a three-pointer by Houston around a lay-up by junior forward Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy).

Again, Le Moyne countered with six straight points, including the first four by Janson, to get within 50-46 with 7:06 to go, but Mallory had a conventional three-point play and Jose Cruz had a dunk to make it a 55-46 game with 5:41 left.

The Dolphins answered again with six straight points and nine of the next 11 to get within two points with 43 seconds left. Sophomore guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) made two free throws around two by Janson and then sophomore forward Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) had a tip-in with 1:25 left to make it 55-52. After Langston made a lay-up with 57 seconds left, Gause drilled a three-pointer from the top of the arc to pull Le Moyne within 57-55.

Mallory answered with a conventional three-point play to push the Southern Connecticut lead back to five with 16 seconds left. Following a pair of Le Moyne misses around a missed free throw by Smith, Mallory made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to close out the game's scoring.