NEW HAVEN, CT -- Junior forward Kieran Ramsey scored 21 points to lead Southern Connecticut State to a 76-58 win over the Le Moyne College men’s basketball team on Wednesday night in the Northeast-10 Conference opener for both teams at Moore Field House.
Ramsey scored 13 of his game-high point total in the opening half.
Fifth-year senior Chazz McCarter registered 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Trevon Hamlet, a transfer from Post University, finished with 15 points.
Redshirt freshman center Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) led three Dolphins in double digits with 16 points. Junior guard Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) recorded 14 points, including nine in the first half, while senior forward Kevin Roth (Lake View, N.Y./St. Francis HS) totaled 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
After the Dolphins took a 5-2 lead in the opening minute and a half on a Janson lay-up and Johnson three-pointer, Southern Connecticut scored nine straight points to take the lead, which it would not relinquish.
Ramsey and Hamlet made consecutive lay-ups, Greg Langston drilled a three-pointer and McCarter capped off the stretch with a lay-up.
Following Johnson’s second three-pointer of the game to make the score 13-10, the Owls rattled off seven straight points to take their first double-digit lead of the game. Ante Cosic hit a three-pointer to start the run, while Dexton Williamson capped it with two free throws and a fastbreak dunk.
The Dolphins closed within four with 7:19 left, but that is as close as they would get the remainder of the contest. Southern Connecticut closed out the half on a 17-10 run to take a 37-26 lead at the intermission.
Ramsey tallied nine points in the stretch, while Hamlet added six and Cosic made a jumper. Janson scored five of Le Moyne’s 10 points over the final six minutes.
The two teams traded points over the opening six minutes of the second half, resulting in a 46-35 Southern Connecticut lead. The Owls then scored nine straight points to extend their lead to 20 points. McCarter hit a three-pointer and a fastbreak lay-up to lead the run, while Hamlet capped the run with two free throws.
After Le Moyne closed within 58-42 on conventional three-point play by Roth, the Owls scored eight of the next 10 points to take a game-high 22-point lead. Ramsey and Chris Harris each posted four points in the span, while Le Moyne got its two points on a fastbreak lay-up by Johnson.
The Dolphins outscored the Owls 14-10 over the final five and a half minutes to close out the game. Five different Dolphins scored in the span, led by four points from Janson, while Southern Connecticut got its 10 points from six different players.
Le Moyne (0-2, NE-10 0-1) returns to action on Monday at 6:00 p.m. against American International at the MassMutual Center as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.
Courtesy: Le Moyne Athletics
