Worcester, Mass. (October 1) -- Led by a 288-yard, four-touchdown showing by senior Rashaad Slowley, Southern Connecticut put up 31 second-half points as the Owls rallied past Assumption for the 38-24 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Multi-Sport Stadium. The game was the 2011 Homecoming Game for Assumption.

The Hounds got on the board with 5:45 left in the opening quarter as Kevin Bumpus (Brigdgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) hit a wide-open Adam Gruschow (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) across the middle for an 83-yard touchdown reception and the 7-0 lead. Gruschow got into the open and caught the ball at the 40-yard line before outrunning the Owl defense from there.

On the ensuing drive for the Owls, Slowley capped a five-play, 55-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run up the middle on first down to equalize things at 7-7 with 3:46 left in the first. The Greyhounds regained the lead just 2:22 later as sophomore Mike Bates (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) picked off SCSU quarterback Kevin Lynch and bolted 57 yards down the far sideline for the interception return for touchdown and the 14-7 edge. Assumption kept up the offensive momentum and closed out the first-half scoring on a 13-yard rushing score by sophomore Matt Pedone (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) early in the second quarter for a 21-7 edge at the break.

In the second half it was the Owls who came out firing to quickly cut into the Assumption advantage. The first big play of the quarter came from Slowley as he rumbled 71 yards down the far sideline for his second touchdown of the afternoon. Southern Connecticut forced a turnover on the next offensive play for the Greyhounds and converted that into a Chris Hazelton field goal just two minutes later to make it a 24-17 contest.

Assumption answered the 10 unanswered Owl points with a 35-yard field goal from Brian Nowak (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) and it was again a seven-point lead at 24-17 with 7:28 left in the third. The Owls weren't done though as Slowley found the end zone for the third time with a three-run score up the middle on first-and-goal that capped a six-play, 63-yard drive and tied the game at 24-24.

Southern Connecticut took its first lead of the game with 6:13 left in the fourth as Slowley found the end zone for the fourth time this afternoon on a five-yard run just inside the far pylon for the 31-24 advantage. On the next Greyhound drive, Kamal Mgaresh picked off Bumpus near midfield and took the interception 53 yards down the sideline to make it a 38-24 game with 5:22 left.

Pedone led the Hounds with 66 rushing  yards and 174 all-purpose yards, including a touchdown. Bumpus finished the game completing 12-of-36 passing attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown, while Gruschow had a team-best 106 receiving yards on two receptions. Senior Nick DiAntonio (Milford, Mass./Milford) was the defensive leader as he posted a career-high 21 tackles to go along with two tackles for a loss, one forced fumble and a sack. Senior Dan Conrad (Holden, Mass./St. Peter Marian) finished with 10 stops, including eight solo stops, to go along with two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and a sack. Bates also posted two interceptions along with five tackles and a pass breakup in the defeat.

For the Owls, Lynch completed 20-of-38 passing attempts for 213 yards, while Slowley posted a career-high 288 rushing yards on 34 attempts.

With the loss, Assumption falls to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in Northeast-10 play, while Southern Connecticut is now 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in league action. Assumption is back in action on Saturday, October 8th as the Greyhounds travel to Pace for a 1 p.m. start in Pleasantville, N.Y