Joe Seymore's Overtime Bucket Leads Blue Devils to 66-65 Victory in Northeast Conference Opener

Junior Joe Seymore grabbed an offensive rebound and his basket with three seconds to play gave Central Connecticut a 66-65 overtime victory over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils, now winners of four straight, open the conference season with the win. Sophomore Ken Horton scored 22 points to post his 10th career game with 20 or more points for the Blue Devils. With the victory CCSU is now 4-3 overall and 1-0 in league play.

The Blue Devils had three chances in their final possession and Seymore was able to covert the third and final attempt to give the Blue Devils the one point victory. It was the third one point game of the season for the Blue Devils and the first where they came away on the victorious end. Seymore missed his first attempt and after sophomore David Simmons kept the ball alive and Horton grabbed the rebound, Horton missed from in the lane. Seymore grabbed the offensive board and then scored the game-winner with just over three seconds on the clock.

Simmons scored a career-high 13 points in the game and also grabbed a season-best 12 rebounds. It was the third double-double of his career. He made 5-of-6 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.

As a team the Blue Devils hit on 12-of-16 free-throw attempts while the Mount made only 4-of-13. CCSU also outrebounded the Mount 40-33, marking the sixth straight opponent in which they have posted more rebounds.

Horton had 13 of his 22 in the second half, including two of his three threes. He was 3-of-5 from behind the arc while the rest of the squad was just 1-for-9. CCSU had 16 turnovers and 12 assists, including seven assists from sophomore Shemik Thompson.

Central Connecticut led 24-20 at the half as both teams shot under 40 percent from the floor. In the second half neither team led by more than four points and the lead changed 12 times. CCSU scored the final three points of regulation to send the game to overtime, its first overtime game of the season. Seymore also hit the bucket to send the game to the extra five minutes.

With 38 seconds left in overtime the Blue Devils trailed 65-62. Seymore, who scored the final six points in overtime and eight of the team's final 12, hit a jumper in the lane to cut the Mount lead to one. After the Mount missed the front end of a 1-and-1 they grabbed the offensive rebound, but traveled and turned the ball over. Seymore's shot capped a frenzy in the final eight seconds of the game to give the Blue Devils their fourth straight win.

Horton's 22 led all scorers, he also grabbed six rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Simmons posted the double-double and Seymore and Thompson each added 10 points. It was the second straight game that the Blue Devils had four players in double-figures.

CCSU takes to the road on Wednesday playing at UMBC at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the CCSU ESPN Radio Network on ESPN Radio 1410 in Hartford and ESPN Radio 1300 in New Haven. Fans can also listen to the game online at CCSUBlueDevils.com.