By Stephen Ur III –
The Assumption Greyhounds men’s basketball team hosted the Southern Connecticut State Fighting Owls at Assumption University in Worcester, MA on Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds were playing their first home game following a four-game road trip that ran from Dec. 14 to Jan. 4. They were also looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Owls, on the other hand, came into the game on a seven-game winning streak. They had not lost since Dec. 6.
Assumption junior forward Cooper Creek got the Greyhounds on the board first with a three-pointer, but the Owls would go on a 7-2 run to take a 7-5 lead. Senior guard Isiah Gaiter scored on a jump shot to tie the game at seven after a scoreless drought that lasted roughly two minutes.
Creek’s second three-pointer of the first half was part of a 9-2 run for Assumption as they led 14-9 at the first timeout with 13:06 left in the opening half. Southern Connecticut State would close the gap to just three by the second timeout at the 8:28 mark of the first half.
The Falcons would tie the game at 19 as sophomore guard Sean James shot a wide open corner three and connected. They would then go on a 6-2 run and take a 25-21 lead with 2:28 left in the half.
Creek scored his third three-pointer of the half in the final seconds, putting him at nine points, and the Greyhounds tied the game at 26. However, right before the buzzer, Owls sophomore guard Marty Silvera scored the go-ahead basket, and they led 28-26 over Assumption at halftime.
Southern Connecticut State took over the second half as they went on a 8-1 run over the first three minutes of the second half, taking their biggest lead of the game as they led 36-27. The Greyhounds missed three consecutive threes on their next possession before the Falcons came up with the defensive rebound, still leading 36-27 at the 16:20 mark in the second half.
After four consecutive missed threes, Njavan Stewart connected on a corner three to bring the game within eight at 40-32 with 14:31 left in the game. That would be the score with 13:16 left as Southern Connecticut took the first timeout of the second half.
After being down by 11 twice, the Greyhounds made it just a three-point following a turnover and a basket by Creek. The basket put him in double figures for the game and made the score 40-37 with 12:01 remaining.
Creek would hit his fourth three on the next possession, and Assumption trailed by just two at 42-40. A fallback shot by Gaiter tied the game and put the Greyhounds on a 10-2 run in a span of two minutes and six seconds.
The two teams would go back and forth, and the score was 62-60 in the final minute. Gaiter had a chance to score two foul shots to tie the game at 62 with 38 seconds left. He would miss the first and then make the second to make it a one-point game.
The two teams would go back and forth shooting foul shots as the game wound down and Assumption continued to save time in an attempt to tie the game or even take the lead. In the end, Gaiter missed the potential game-typing layup at the buzzer and Central Connecticut State won by a final score of 66-64.
The loss for Assumption is their third in a row, while the win for the Owls is their eighth in a row. The Greyhounds’ next game will be on Monday afternoon at Daemen University in Amherst, NY. Tip-off is set for noon ET.
NewsTalk New England 