Men's basketball drops battle at Southern Connecticut
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut – The American International College men's basketball team lost a back-and-forth Northeast-10 Conference battle with Southern Connecticut State University by a score of 77-63 on Saturday, December 31.
AIC drops to 4-10 overall and 2-4 in the NE10.
Justice Ellison hit the game's first shot 2:18 in, but the Owls scored the game's next 10 points and 19 of the next 21 to build a 19-4 advantage nine minutes in. Jack Hall broke the run with a three-pointer, and followed with another on the next possession. Kanye Wavezwa kept the streak going with a three of his own that Ellison set up, and Auigbou Balde's layup capped the 11-point AIC run over just 1:41.
The back-and-forth continued in the second part of the frame, with another Wavezwa three pushing the Yellow Jackets to within 30-27; the Owls were able to reextend the lead to 40-28, but a layup at the final moment of the half sent AIC to the locker room down by 10.
The Yellow Jackets had another run in them; down 44-35 1:50 into the second frame, the team scored nine straight to tie the game, evening the score thanks to a Buka Peikrishvili triple. However, the Owls hit their own at the other end to regain the lead and never looked back, outscoring AIC 33-19 over the last 14:21 to win the game.
Ellison's 18 points led the Yellow Jackets, as did his eight rebounds, while Hall added 14 and Wavezwa 11.
AIC flips the calendar and returns home January 4 at 7:30 p.m. against Southern New Hampshire University.