Vinales Has Big Night, Not Enough in Loss at Wagner

Sophomore Kyle Vinales became the fastest player in school history to score 1,000 career points but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped a 101-82 Northeast Conference road game at Wagner on Thursday night. 

Vinales finished the game with a CCSU Division I record 42 points, including a career-high tying eight threes in the loss.  He finished the game 12-of-24 from the floor and 8-of-13 from three on the night.  It was his first career 40-point game, and his seventh at 30 or more.  In 52 career games Vinales has now scored 1,029 points.

The 42 points in a single-game are the second-highest single game total in school history, behind only Paul Zajac's 47 points in the 1966-67 season (CCSU was Division II at the time).  It topped Vinales' career-high of 39 which he set last season. 

With the loss the Blue Devils are now 10-13 overall and 6-6 in NEC play.  Wagner improves to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in the league with the victory.

Vinales became the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points, and did it faster than any other.  He reached the milestone in just his 52nd career game, beating the previous mark of 68 games set by former teammate and CCSU's all-time leading scorer Ken Horton.

However, the Blue Devils dropped their second straight game after not playing for a week due to the winter storm last week.  CCSU was scheduled to play Quinnipiac at home on Saturday but the storm forced the game to be moved to Feb. 25 at home.

While the first half went well, the Seahawks took over in the final minutes before halftime to take command of the game.

Wagner hit 20-of-29 shots from the field in the first half, good for 69 percent, to take a 52-43 lead.  They used an 8-2 run late to open the nine-point lead, their largest of the game to that point.  They hit 11-of-12 from the field to end the half and open the lead.

Central was 14-of-29 from the field and 6-of-10 from three, led by 11 points from Vinales.  They were also 9-of-12 from the line but turned the ball over nine times before the break. 

Wagner opened the second half on an 13-2 run and took a 65-45 lead with under 16 minutes to play.  Their run from the first half stretched into the second and was 26-7 as the lead reached 22 points, 70-48.

Central could not cut into the Wagner lead in the final 10 minutes of the game, but Vinales put on a show in trying to keep the Blue Devils close.  He had 31 second half points and was 9-of-16 from the field in the half, including five threes.  He also hit 10-of-13 from the free-throw line, had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Junior Terrell Allen added 14 points and eight rebounds in the game.  Junior Matt Hunter finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.

The Seahawks were led by 23 points from Marcus Burton off the bench, and 15 from Latif Rivers.  They shot 61.4 percent (35-of-57) from the field in the game and 9-of-15 from three.  They had 23 assists on 35 baskets.  They outrebounded CCSU 40-31.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Mount St. Mary's.  The game will be televised live on MSG, MASN, Fox College Sports Pacific and Cox Sports Television.  Fans can also listen live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, ESPN Radio 1300 and online at iheartradio.com.