Orangeburg, N.Y. (12/14/17) The Dominican College men's basketball team rallied from a 63-51 deficit with 6:14 left in regulation to pull within three (63-60) with under three minutes to go, but it wouldn't be enough as the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University came away with a 69-64 non-conference victory this evening in a game played on Coach Baxter Court in the Hennessy Center.

With the win, the Owls improve to 5-4 overall while the Chargers fall to 7-2 on the season.

The Chargers began the nine point run late in the second half as sophomore guard Daniel Grant (Middletown, N.Y.) buried a three-point bucket and later followed it with a jump shot.  Teammate  Daraja Rodwell (Baldwin, N.Y.) then recorded back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to 63-60.  SCSU would rebuild the lead to 67-61 with 18 ticks on the clock, but Rodwell brought the Chargers within three once again (67-64) following a trey with 12 seconds to go.  Forced to foul and send the Owls to the free throw line, Bernard Brantley iced two free throws to secure the win.

Junior foward Ian Gardener (Norwalk, Conn.) led three Chargers in double figures with 17 points and added five rebounds.

Grant finished with 14 points (5-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the three-point arc) and Rodwell contributed 12 points.

Sophomore Sayon Charles (Staten Island, N.Y.) grabbed a team best six rebounds and added three steals in the loss.

Dominican returns to action next Monday evening as they head on the road to the Mocs Christmas Classic hosted by Florida Southern College.  DC will take on Eckerd College at 5:30 pm on December 18th.