Men's Hoop Can't Hang On In Loss to LIU Brooklyn
Peel scored 20 and had nine boards
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team led by seven points halfway through the second half but LIU Brooklyn would outscore the Blue Devils by 12 in the final 10 minutes of the game to post a 71-66 victory in New Britain on Thursday night. With the loss the Blue Devils are now 2-16 overall and 0-5 in Northeast Conference play. The Blackbirds are 6-10 overall and 2-3 in league play.
Junior Brandon Peel posted a career-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the game, converting on 9-of-13 from the floor and a pair of free-throws. He also had two blocks.
Senior Faronte Drakeford added 12 points and six rebounds while sophomore Matt Mobley had seven points, a season-high six rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Classmate Khalen Cumberlander added 11 points, including the only two threes of the game for the Blue Devils.
Central led 52-45 with just over 10 minutes to play after a layup in the lane from Mobley, but the Blackbirds would answer with six straight points to force a Central timeout just one minute later.
The Blue Devils pushed the lead back to five, 56-51, on a jumper from Drakeford before a 7-2 run from the Blackbirds tied the game at 58-58 with 3:41 to play in the game.
LIU outscored the Blue Devils 16-4 over a seven minute span to turn a five-point deficit into a 67-60 lead with under a minute to play. The Blue Devils would get no closer than five the rest of the way.
Central shot 28-of-60 from the field and 2-of-8 from three, and had 14 assists and only 11 turnovers in the game. The Blackbirds had 16 assists and just seven turnovers.
For the Blue Devils Mobley had a career-high seven assists and freshman Kevin Seymour added six, just one off his career-high. He had only one turnover giving him 59 assists and 25 turnovers on the season.
Peel was just one rebound shy of a double-double in the game, posting 20 points and nine boards.
For the Blackbirds Nura Zanna had his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards. Gerrell Martin added 17 points, as did Landon Atterberry.
Central returns to action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. hosting Bryant University.