Men's Hoop Comes Up Short at the Garden

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team traveled to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night for the first time in program history.  Central led 34-30 at the half, but could not hold on as St. Francis Brooklyn pulled out a 63-51 victory in New York City.  The Terriers outscored the Blue Devils 33-17 in the second half and shot 54 percent from the field on their way to the victory.

With the loss the Blue Devils are now 2-18 overall and 0-7 in Northeast Conference play.  The Terriers remain in first place and are 6-1 in league play, 12-8 overall.

Sophomore Matt Mobley led the Blue Devils with 17 points, including four threes.  He made his first four threes in the first half.  Junior Brandon Peel added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Senior Faronte Drakeford had nine points in the game.

The Terriers started the game 10-of-15 from the field, including 9-of-12 from two, and led 21-18 with under eight minutes to play.  Central was 7-of-13 from the field and Mobley had eight, including his first two three-point attempts.

CCSU leads 28-23 on Mobley's fourth three of the half.  Central made it's first six three point attempts in the game.  They led 30-23 after a rebound and put back from Peel.

The Blue Devils led 34-30 at halftime, led by 14 from Mobley on 5-of-9 shooting and 4-of-5 from three.  He hit his first four three-pointers in the half, and Central made their first six, finishing the half 6-of-8 from three. 

The Terriers scored the first five points of the second half before Mobley hit a jumper and gave Central a 36-35 lead.   The St. Francis run to open the second half reached 9-2 and they led 39-36 with under 15 to play.  Four straight from the Blue Devils, including the second bucket of the game from freshman Kevin Seymour, gave Central a 40-39 lead.

The Terriers scored nine points to make it 48-40 with under nine minutes to play.    Central scored just six points in the first 11 minutes of the second half.  The St. Francis 9-0 run lasted almost five minutes before a bucket from Peel made it 48-42. 

The Terrier lead reached 10 for the first time, 54-44, with under four to play on a driving basket from Brent Jones.  Following a Central miss the Terriers scored again to make it 56-44.  The Terrier run reached 17-4 after the Blue Devils had taken a 40-39 lead earlier in the half.

The Blue Devils shot just 7-of-26 from the field in the second half.  They finished the game shooting 19-of-49 overall, good for 38.8 percent.  They were 7-of-17 from three.

The Blue Devils return to action at home on Saturday night hosting Wagner at 7 p.m.  The game will be televised live on Fox College Sports and MSG+2.