Central Connecticut Beats Hartford 73-59
Blue Devils pick up third win of the season
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team picked up its third win of the season with a 73-59 home victory over Hartford on Tuesday night in New Britain. Central took their first lead of the game, 18-16, with 6:46 to play in the first half and would never trail again.
VINALES TO MCMILLAN WITH THE ALLEY-OOP
With the loss the Hawks are now 3-8 overall. Central improves to 3-6 with the victory and is 2-1 at home this season. It marked their second straight home victory.
Junior Malcolm McMillan scored a team-high 15 points, grabbed four rebounds and had three assists as the Blue Devils topped Hartford for the third time in four seasons.
Juniors Faronte Drakeford and Kyle Vinales each had 14 points in the win. Vinales had six assists as the Blue Devils had 15 assists in the game and only nine turnovers. Central held the Hawks to 34.8 percent shooting from the field, including 28.6 in the first half.
The Blue Devils led 39-27 at the break after shooting 53.1 percent from the floor and hitting three threes. Hartford was just 6-for-22 from three in the loss and had just nine assists and 13 turnovers.
After pushing the lead to 15 points early in the second half Hartford would cut it to seven, 55-48, with 8:17 to play. Central answered, and held the Hawks to just 11 more points in the final eight minutes. During that stretch the Blue Devils outscored Hartford 18-11 in the closing minutes. The lead reached as much as 18 in the final minutes.
Junior Juwan Newmen added eight points and four rebounds for the Blue Devils. Central outrebounded the Hawks 34-31 in the victory and had five steals.
Senior Matt Hunter added 12 points, eight rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes of action. Only one Blue Devil (Vinales) played more than 30 minutes in the game.
Central dominated the paint, outscoring the Hawks 49-17. They shot an impressive 27-of-46 from inside three-point land, good for 58.7 percent.
The Blue Devils, winners of two of their last three, are back in action on Sunday at Hofstra at 1 p.m. Fans can listen live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, ESPN Radio 1300 and online at www.iHeartRadio.com.
