Men's Basketball Drops Non-Conference Decision at Northwestern on Tuesday Night

Sophomore Robby Ptacek scored 22 points and made 8-of-8 from the free throw line but the Central Connecticut State University men's basketball team dropped a 74-54 decision on the road at Northwestern on Tuesday night. Central, now 3-6 on the season, is off until they host UMBC at home on Dec. 30. Central outrebounded the Wildcats 35-28 in the game, including a game-high seven by junior David Simmons.

The Wildcats came into the game as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, averaging over 10 threes made per contest. Central held them to 5-of-22 shooting from behind the arc in the contest, including just 1-of-7 in the second half.

Central shot just 8-of-27 from the field in the first half but trailed only 34-22 at the break. With just over three minutes left before halftime Central was down just six, 28-22. But the Wildcats scored the final six points of the half, including four from the free-throw line, to lead by 12.

Northwestern went to the free-throw line 21 times in the game, hitting 15. Despite shooting just 38.5 percent (10-of-26) in the first half, they would hit 17-of-25 attempts after the break to lead by as many as 22 in the half.

With just under four minutes to play, Ptacek scored eight straight points in less than two minutes, and cut the lead to 65-54 with 2:09 on the clock. Northwestern would go on to score the final nine points of the game to finish with the 74-54 win.

Ptacek's 22 led the Blue Devils. He was 7-of-11 from the floor and made all eight of his free-throw attempts. Sophomore Vince Rosario scored 11, including two threes. Central shot only 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field in the game and hit on just 3-of-14 from three.

The Blue Devils did outrebound the much taller Wildcats 35-28 in the game. Simmons led the way with seven, he also added five points. Junior Markeys Deans had eight points and five rebounds. Rosario added four rebounds in the game.

Central is off until they play at home against UMBC on Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. They will also play on Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. against Holy Cross at the Mohegan Sun Arena.