Men's Hoop Falls Late at Bryant on Thursday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team could not withstand a late Bryant University run on Thursday night and fell 77-69 on the road in Smithfield, RI.  Sophomore Matt Mobley led all scorers with 31 points on the night, his 12th game of the season with 20 or more and his fourth with 30 or more. 

Central is now 5-25 overall and 3-14 in Northeast Conference play.  Bryant is 14-14 overall and 11-6 in the league with the victory.

Central built an early 21-13 lead but the Bulldogs answered with eight straight points to tie the game 21-21.  Central answered with five straight, to push the lead to 26-11 before the Bulldogs answered again and climbed within one, 26-25.  The Blue Devils went more than three minutes without a basket, but they responded with a quick spurt to end the half and build a 34-29 lead. 

Mobley had the hot hand in the first half scoring 18 points including 4-of-7 from three.  The Blue Devils hit 6-of-10 from three as a team and shot 48 percent from the floor in the half.  Bryant on the other hand shot just 11-of-29, 38 percent, and hit only 1-of-11 from three.

The lead reached 48-37 just four minutes into the second half after a quick 5-0 spurt from sophomore Khalen Cumberlander.  He hit a three and then had a steal and a dunk to push the lead to 11.

Bryant's Dyami Starks answered with a personal 8-0 run over the next minute to cut the Blue Devil lead to 48-45 with 14:09 to play in the second half.  He hit a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions to cut it to three.

With a two point lead the second three of the half from Cumberlander pushed the Central lead to 53-48 with under 12 to play.  Bryant tied the game 55-55, but Cumberlander hit his fourth three of the night, and third of the half, to make it 58-55.

With the Blue Devils leading 63-61 the Bulldogs scored 10 straight points to take a 71-63 lead with 2:15 to play. 

Mobley led all scorers with 31, just one off his career-high of 32 scored earlier this season at Sacred Heart.  Cumberlander ended the game with 17 points and a team-high four assists. 

The Blue Devils will complete the 2014-15 season on Saturday on the road at Fairleigh Dickinson at 4:30 p.m.