East Carolina Tops Men's Hoop on Sunday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped to 0-6 to open the 2014-15 season with a 74-59 setback on the road at East Carolina on Sunday afternoon.  With the victory the Pirates move to 4-3 on the season.

Junior Brandon Peel led the Blue Devils and matched his career-high with 18 points while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds in the loss.  Sophomore Khalen Cumberlander had 19 points and hit four threes in the game.  He also had a team-high five assists and was 7-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three.

ECU was led by Michel Nzege who had a team-high 18 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the floor.  B.J. Tyson added 14 as the Pirates shot 31-of-52 from the floor, good for 59.6 percent.  They hit 6-of-13 from three.

In the first half the Blue Devils started out 9-of-11 from the field and finished the game 24-of-55, good for 43.6 percent.  They were 6-of-17 from three.

Both teams shot well from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game, and the Blue Devils held a 27-24 advantage after making 9-of-11 to start the game.  ECU was slightly better, hitting 9-of-10 from the floor to start the game and finished the first half making 18-of-25 from the floor, good for 72 percent.  They were 5-of-9 from three. 

After Central led 27-24, the Pirates ran off a 14-0 run and took a 38-27 lead with 6:20 left in the half.  The run lasted just under six minutes before Central recorded a field goal to cut the lead to 38-29.  The run would reach 20-5 for the Pirates to end the half, as they took a 44-32 lead at the break.  Central made just 3-of-13 from the field to end the half.

Peel led all scorers with 14, including 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line. Cumberlander added nine before the break.

The Pirates built the lead to 20, 54-34, to start the second half as they continued to stay hot from the field.  An 8-0 run for the Blue Devils, including a pair of buckets from Peel, cut the ECU lead to 54-42 with under 13 minutes to play. 

ECU answered with a quick 5-2 run to push the lead back to 59-44 at the 10 minute mark.   Cumberlander hit his third three to make it 59-47.  They built the lead back to 17 before the Blue Devils answered again and cut it to 64-51 with 6:27 left in the game.   ECU held on for the 74-59 win.

Cumberlander's 19 points led the Blue Devils and Peel added 18.  Central had 14 assists in the loss and turned the ball over just 13 times.  They had three blocks.

The Blue Devils will return to action on Wednesday night at Rider at 7 p.m.  The game is the seventh straight away from home to start the 2014-15 season for CCSU.  They will then play at Hartford on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. before hosting UMBC on Dec. 10 in their first home game of the season.