Men Fall at Home to Mount St. Mary's

Sophomore Malcolm McMillan scored a career-high 26 points but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped an 80-75 home decision to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon.  The loss drops the Blue Devils to 7-10 overall and 3-3 in Northeast Conference play.

Mount St. Mary's improves to 7-10 overall and 2-4 in the league with the win.  They were led by 18 points each from Julian Norfleet and Xavier Owens.

The Blue Devils led 60-52 with 9:29 on the clock but the Mount answered with a 16-0 run that helped seal the victory.  The Mount led 68-60 with just over five minutes to play in the game.

Central answered and cut it to two, 70-68, on the fifth three of the game from McMillan.  He cut it to one minutes later with his sixth three, making it 72-71 with 2:24 on the clock.  The Mount stretched the lead to three, 74-71, and following an offensive foul by the Blue Devils, they hit a three on the other end to push the lead to six and seal the victory.

McMillan's 26 led all scorers, it was a new career-high for the sophomore.  He entered the game with seven threes on the season and hit a career-best six in the loss.  He was 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from three.  He added seven assists.  He made his first six threes of the game, missing only in the final seconds.

Classmate Kyle Vinales had 20 points, 18 in the first half, and a pair of assists.  Adonis Burbage had 11 points while freshman Brandon Peel added six points and 11 rebounds.

The Blue Devils shot 56 percent from the field, including 60 percent in the first half.  They led by 10 in the first half but a late run by the Mount gave them a 39-38 edge at halftime. 

Central had 18 assists but turned the ball over 17 times in the game, including 11 in the first half.  The Mount turned the ball over nine times in the win.

Central travels for their next NEC game on the road at Quinnipiac on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.  The game will air live on SNY.