Worcester, Mass. (January 31) -- Assumption rallied from a 19-point, second-half deficit to force overtime before eventually dropping a 92-81 double-overtime final to visiting Southern Connecticut on Saturday afternoon at Laska Gym.

SCSU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over the opening 3:35 of the game before a pair of free throws from Julian Aiken (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) got the Hounds on the board just over five minutes in. The Owls continued to push the pace and with 13:10 on the clock, a Michael Mallory dunk made it 13-4 and forced an Assumption timeout. Deshawn Murphy's jumper midway thru the half extended the lead into double figures for the Owls, who eventually led by an 18-point margin with under two minutes left in the period. Trailing 43-28 late in the half, an Aiken layup with four seconds remaining in the period sent the game into the break at 43-30 Owls.

Tylon Smith led all scorers in the first period with 11 points to go along with six assists, while Luke Houston added 10 points. Senior Jimmy Zenevitch (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) led the Hounds with eight points and nine rebounds in 15 minutes.

Southern Connecticut opened the second half on a quick 6-0 run to extend the lead to the biggest of the game at 49-30. Assumption answered quickly though with a 10-0 run over just three minutes, capped by a jumper from junior Karl Ziegler (Annandale, Va./Annandale) to force an Owl timeout. Zenevitch's layup moments later cut the lead down to seven before a three from Austin Carter rattled in for the 52-42 margin with 14:37 left.

The Hounds cut the lead down to single digits with 8:52 remaining after a putback from junior Terrance Bobb-Jones (Wilmington, Del./Delcastle-Voc Tech) made it 55-46 and forced an SCSU full timeout. A tip-in by junior Tim Kasper (Cologne, Germany/Gymnasium Schloss Hagerhof) cut the lead down to seven before Houston answered with a three from the right wing at 58-48.

The Owls led 61-50 after a deep three from Mallory before an 11-5 Assumption run, capped by a three-point play from sophomore Kamali Bey (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy), cut the lead to 65-61 with 4:42 left. The Hounds eventually cut the lead down to just three after a Bobb-Jones lob off an inbounds play and a fastbreak layup from Aiken that forced another SCSU timeout with the score 71-68.

With a five-second differential in the shot clock and game clock, the Hounds forced an Owl turnover with 13.9 seconds remaining as Smith was called for a travel. After an SCSU timeout, the Hounds took the ball into the frontcourt and called timeout with 8.8 seconds left. After a missed three off the inbounds play, the ball ended up at the top of the key in the hands of Aiken as he knocked down the game-tying three with 1.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime period, Ziegler put the Hounds in front for the first time as his layup with 4:18 remaining made it a 73-71 margin. The teams traded the lead back and forth over the next three minutes before another Ziegler free throw made it 77-75 with 26.6 ticks left. SCSU again tied the game just five seconds later as Mallory was fouled and knocked down both free throws for the 77-77 tie.

The Hounds called timeout with 17.6 seconds left, but were unable to get a clean shot off in the extra period as the teams headed into a second overtime. In the second extra stanza, Ziegler again put the Hounds up two early before a Mallory three put the Owls ahead to stay at 82-79. SCSU knocked down a number of free throws down the stretch to secure the victory as the Owls were successful on 26-of-32 free throws overall in the game.

Ziegler finished the game with a career-high 25 points as four Hounds overall finished in double figures. Aiken posted 16 points and eight rebounds, along with 10 points by Bey and a 13-point, 16-rebound double-double by Zenevitch.

Houston finished with 25 points to lead the Owls, along with 21 from Smith and 12 from Mallory.

With the loss, the Hounds fall to 8-11 overall and 5-9 in Northeast-10 play, while the Owls improve to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Wednesday, February 4th as the Hounds travel to Bentley University for a 7:30 p.m. start at the Dana Center.

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