Blue Devils Drop 81-75 Home Decision to LIU Brooklyn
Hunter leads the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night with an 81-75 home loss to LIU Brooklyn. Junior Matt Hunter led the offense with 25 points and added 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
With the loss the Blue Devils are now 10-12 overall and 6-5 in Northeast Conference play. LIU Brooklyn is 12-11 overall and 7-4 in league action. They will hold any tie-breaker against the Blue Devils as this was the only meeting of the year between the two teams.
Hunter's final line was impressive as usual, netting 25 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. He was 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-6 from three.
The Blackbirds were led by 25 points and 14 rebounds from Jamal Olasewere. He was 12-of-13 from the field. C.J. Garner added 17 points and seven rebounds and Jason Brickman had eight points, seven rebounds and a game-high 12 assists.
The Blackbirds used a late run in the second half to climb away in the final minutes. With a 54-53 lead, they scored six straight to push the lead to seven. It would reach eight three separate times in the next three minutes.
LIU led 77-68 after a dunk from E.J. Reed with 1:26 to play. The Blue Devils would cut it to four with a late run but it wasn't enough as the Blackbirds topped CCSU for the fifth straight game.
LIU outrebounded the Blue Devils 48-38 in the game, including 15 on the offensive end. They had 18 assists on 34 buckets.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over only nine times in the game and had 16 assists. They also had eight blocks, including three from Hunter and two each from sophomore Malcolm McMillan and senior Joe Efese.
McMillan had seven points, six boards and six assists. Sophomore Kyle Vinales had 13 points and six assists. He has 987 career points entering the next game on Sunday vs. Quinnipiac.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Sunday hosting Quinnipiac at 3:30 p.m. in Detrick Gym. That game has been moved from Saturday due to the impending snow storm.