Terriers Knock Off CCSU 76-66 on Thursday
Blue Devils now 0-3 in Northeast Conference play
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped a 76-66 home decision to St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday night in New Britain and is now 4-12 overall and 0-3 in Northeast Conference play. The Blue Devils were led by junior Faronte Drakeford who had a team-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Terriers improve to 11-7 overall and 2-1 in league play.
Sophomore Brandon Peel added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils. He also had a pair of blocks. Freshman Matt Mobley had 10 points including two threes for the third straight game. Central was 25-of-56 from the field and hit five threes. Mobley and Drakeford each added five rebounds.
Central held a 40-31 advantage on the boards, including seven from junior Juwan Newmen. He added eight points and hit a pair of free-throws.
St. Francis Brooklyn was led by Jalen Cannon who had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and was 8-of-15 from the field. The Terriers were 29-of-62 from the field and hit seven threes. They had 14 assists, including 11 from Brent Jones, and only eight turnovers in the game.
Central's junior point guard Malcolm McMillan had 14 points and six assists in the game, making 6-of-10 from the field and grabbing a pair rebounds.
The Blue Devils trailed by six at the half and took a one-point lead in the second half by way of an 11-0 run over a span of 4:11. The Terriers responded with 16-5 run to push the lead back to 10.
Central answered again, cutting it to 59-55 with 6:07 left to play in the game. A jumper from Drakeford cut it to four, but the Terriers scored five straight to push the lead back to nine.
At 65-60 with 3:32 left Central had the ball twice, but turned it over both times, and would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Drakeford's 18 pushed his season average to 16.3 in conference games this season. He is shooting 49 percent from the field in league play.
The Blue Devils are back in action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. hosting LIU Brooklyn.