Horton's Career Night Leads Blue Devils to Home Win
Scores career-high 39 points and grabs 13 rebounds
Senior Ken Horton scored a career-high 39 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, had five assists and six steals as the Central Connecticut men's basketball team rolled to a 78-63 home victory over Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night.
The senior surpassed 1,900 career points, and hit 15-of-20 from the field as Central moved to 12-15 overall and 9-8 in Northeast Conference play.
The Mount falls to 7-21 overall and 5-12 in league action.
Horton's 39 matched the fourth-best single game performance in school history. He was 4-of-8 from three and 5-of-7 from the line in the win.
Freshman Kyle Vinales filled out the stat sheet as well with his first career double-double. He had 13 points and 11 assists, while adding a pair of steals in 36 minutes of action. Senior Robby Ptacek added 17 points and five assists.
The Blue Devils assisted on 24 of 30 baskets in the game, it was their second-highest assist total of the year. They turned the ball over only seven times and had 12 steals.
Central trailed 3-0, and after taking a 5-3 lead two minutes later would never trail again in the contest. They shot 53.6 percent from the field (30-of-56) and 50 percent from three (8-of-16). Horton had four of the threes, while Vinales added three.
The lead reached as much as 13 in the first half, 36-23, before the Mount cut it to five with a 10-2 run that lasted until there were 47 seconds left before halftime. A three from Ptacek pushed the Blue Devil lead to eight at the break.
The lead reached 11 again to open the second half, but the Mount rattled off an 8-2 run to cut it to five again, 53-48, with 13:11 on the clock.
Central responded with nine straight points, including seven from Horton, to push it to 62-48 and the Mount would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way. At 65-54, Central used an 8-0 run to close out the visiting Mountaineers and claim their ninth home win of the season.
Horton's six steals match his career-high and are the most for the senior captain this season. He was 11-of-12 shooting inside of three point range.
The Blue Devils improve to 9-3 at home this season, and will end the regular season on Saturday hosting Wagner at 3:30 p.m. They will honor their three seniors prior to tip.
Saturday's game will air on CPTV Sports as part of a doubleheader. The women's game at 1 p.m. vs. Wagner will also be televised on CPTV Sports.