Men's Basketball Returns Home to Host Binghamton Tuesday Night

Blue Devils host Bearcats in 7:00 p.m. tip.

November 23, 2015

The Central Connecticut men's basketball will host Binghamton on Tuesday night in Detrick Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Blue Devils most recently fell to Boston College last Thursday, while the Bearcats fell at Cornell on Wednesday night. Both teams enter with identical 0-3 records in search of their first win of the season.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
CCSU vs. Binghamton | 7:00 PM | Live Stats | NEC FrontRow | Listen

Series Notes
• Central returns home after consecutive road games to face Binghamton for the fifth time in the series on Tuesday night.
• The series dates back to Nov. 28, 2005, when the Blue Devils won 69-66 at Binghamton.
• The first two meetings in the series were each decided by three points and three of the four meetings all-time have been decided by four points or fewer.
• CCSU is 4-0 in the series, but the teams have not met since Nov. 25, 2008.

Peel Leads NEC Returnees
• Not only is forward Brandon Peel the only senior for CCSU, but he is among the returning senior stats leaders of the Northeast Conference.
• Peel is the NEC's active scoring leader with 659 career points and he is just one of eight players in the league to enter the season with at least 500 points.
• With two double-doubles to open the season, Peel is unsurprisingly the league's active career leading rebounder with 645 boards in his career.
• Peel is also the NEC's active leader with 137 blocked shots.

Common Opponents
• Central will play three of its first five games against America East schools, including each of its next two games. In addition to CCSU, Binghamton will play NEC opponents Saint Francis U (Dec. 15) and Mount St. Mary's (Dec. 29).
• Central's first opponents were coming off wins over Northeast Conference schools.
• Boston College dropped St. Francis Brooklyn 75-49, while Penn defeated Robert Morris, 76-75, to open the season.

History - 1,074 Wins
• This season marks the 79th season of Central basketball.
• CCSU's first year of competition was the 1934-35 season under coach Harrison J. Kaiser, whom the athletic building is named after.
• Central carries an overall record of 1,074-870 for a .552 winning percentage.

Dickenman in Overtime
• Central fell to Hartford, 92-83, in double-overtime in the opener.
• CCSU has played 32 overtime game under head coach Howie Dickenman and have a 22-10 record in 20 seasons.
• CCSU had won five straight OT games dating to Jan. 26, 2012 (56-58, Monmouth).

Lineup Changes
• Central's starting five changed in the game at Boston College with freshmen Evan Phoenix and Jahlil Nails earning their first career starts in place of JJ Cratit and Tidell Pierre.
• Phoenix played a career-high in minutes, but Cratit provided a spark off the bench, pouring in a career-high 20 points.
• Cratit played 32 minutes and shot 7-of-16 with four boards too.

Cumberlander's Opening Act
• Junior Khalen Cumberlander nearly notched a triple-double in the opener with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
• The double-double was the first of Cumberlander's career and he notched career-highs in both rebounds (12) and assists (8).
• Cumberlander's production came while playing a career-high 49 minutes against the Hawks in the opener.
• Dating back to last season, Cumberlander has scored double-figures in each of his past seven games.

Sharing The Scoring
• Central had five players score in double-figures against Hartford in the season-opener.
• Khalen Cumberlander led the way with 19 points, Brandon Peel added 15 and Mustafa Jones had 13 points. Freshmen Austin Nehls (14) and Jahlil Nails (11) also scored double-figures in their first collegiate game.
• It marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2013 against Rider that Central had five players score in double-figures.

Central Connecticut in the Northeast Conference
• CCSU has posted a 144-108 record (.571) in NEC regular season play over the last 13 seasons (19-1 in 2001-02, 12-6 in 02-03, 9-9 in 03-04, 8-10 in 04-05, 13-5 in 05-06, 16-2 in 06-07, 10-8 in 07-08, 8-10 in 08-09, 9-9 in 09-10, 11-7 in 2010-11, 10-8 in 2011-12, 9-9 in 2012-13, 7-9 in 2013-14 and 3-15 in 2014-15).
• They are 82-44 (.651) at home and 62-64 (.492) away.

Peel's Blocks - Fifth All-Time
• Senior Brandon Peel recorded five blocks in the opener and has pushed his career total to 137 blocks, fifth all-time at CCSU.
• Joe Efese (150) is next up for Peel on the career list.

Double-Doubles
• Senior Brandon Peel had eight double-doubles last season and posted the 14th of his career with 17 pts and 10 reb at Penn.
• Peel has posted five double-doubles in his last nine games.
• Junior Khalen Cumberlander posted the first of his career with 19 points and 12 rebounds against Hartford.

Early NEC Stat Leaders
• In the early going of the season, Central is among the conference leaders in some categories. CCSU is averaging 5.0 blocks per game, which ranks second in the league.
• Brandon Peel is grabbing 9.7 rebounds per game to lead CCSU which grabs a league-high 30.33 defensive boards per game.
• Khalen Cumberlander is playing an NEC-high 40.0 minutes per game and giving out 5.33 assists to rank second in the league.

Peel Again
• With 10 boards at Penn senior Brandon Peel has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 24 career games.
• Peel sits atop the rebounding leaderboard for the Northeast Conference with 9.7 per game.
• Peel grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against Robert Morris on Jan. 10, 2015. He had 11 rebounds at the break.

50 Points Allowed
• Central's defense allowed a season-low 47 points in a 56-47 win over Hartford last season.
• The Blue Devils went 3-0 when holding opponents to 50 or fewer points. This marked the first time since 2010-11 that CCSU had three games of allowing 50 or fewer points.
• Central has won five straight when holding opponents below 50 dating to a 48-46 loss at FDU in 2010-11.

Dickenman Milestone
• Head Coach Howie Dickenman, now in his 20th season at his alma mater, reached two milestones in a win over UMBC last year.
• Dickenman became the second coach in school history to record his 275th victory, while at the same time he recorded his 150th career home victory with the win over the Retrievers.
• Dickenman trails only his former head coach Bill Detrick in career wins. Detrick won 468 games in 29 seasons.

Central and the Three-Point Shot - A New Streak Begins
• The Blue Devils had a streak of 557 games with a three-pointer stopped at Wagner on Jan. 31, 2015.
• Central had made a three in every game since February 29, 1996 at the University of Missouri-KC in a 76-69 loss, before going 0-for-6 vs. the Seahawks, marking the first time under head coach Howie Dickenman CCSU did not make a three.
• CCSU has hit a three-pointer in each of the 11 games since having its streak snapped.

Series Notes

• Central returns home after consecutive road games to face Binghamton for the fifth time in the series on Tuesday night.

• The series dates back to Nov. 28, 2005, when the Blue Devils won 69-66 at Binghamton.

• The first two meetings in the series were each decided by three points and three of the four meetings all-time have been decided by four points or fewer.

• CCSU is 4-0 in the series, but the teams have not met since Nov. 25, 2008.

Peel Leads NEC Returnees

• Not only is forward Brandon Peel the only senior for CCSU, but he is among the returning senior stats leaders of the Northeast Conference.

• Peel is the NEC's active scoring leader with 659 career points and he is just one of eight players in the league to enter the season with at least 500 points.

• With two double-doubles to open the season, Peel is unsurprisingly the league's active career leading rebounder with 645 boards in his career.

• Peel is also the NEC's active leader with 137 blocked shots.

Common Opponents

• Central will play three of its first five games against America East schools, including each of its next two games. In addition to CCSU, Binghamton will play NEC opponents Saint Francis U (Dec. 15) and Mount St. Mary's (Dec. 29).

• Central's first opponents were coming off wins over Northeast Conference schools.

• Boston College dropped St. Francis Brooklyn 75-49, while Penn defeated Robert Morris, 76-75, to open the season.

Blue Devils on TV

• Central made its first TV appearance of the 2015-16 season at Boston College (ESPN3).

• In addition to all of its home games being on NEC Front Row, CCSU will appear on TV a total of five more times this season.

• CCSU will have games on ESPN3 (at Boston College, Wagner), ESPNU (at Connecticut), and the Big Ten Network (at Rutgers) along with games on the Northeast Conference television package vs. LIU Brooklyn and at St. Francis Brooklyn.

History - 1,074 Wins

• This season marks the 79th season of Central basketball.

• CCSU's first year of competition was the 1934-35 season under coach Harrison J. Kaiser, whom the athletic building is named after.

• Central carries an overall record of 1,074-870 for a .552 winning percentage.

Dickenman in Overtime

• Central fell to Hartford, 92-83, in double-overtime in the opener.

• CCSU has played 32 overtime game under head coach Howie Dickenman and have a 22-10 record in 20 seasons.

• CCSU had won five straight OT games dating to Jan. 26, 2012 (56-58, Monmouth).

Lineup Changes

• Central's starting five changed in the game at Boston College with freshmen Evan Phoenix and Jahlil Nails earning their first career starts in place of JJ Cratit and Tidell Pierre.

• Phoenix played a career-high in minutes, but Cratit provided a spark off the bench, pouring in a career-high 20 points.

• Cratit played 32 minutes and shot 7-of-16 with four boards too.

Cumberlander's Opening Act

• Junior Khalen Cumberlander nearly notched a triple-double in the opener with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

• The double-double was the first of Cumberlander's career and he notched career-highs in both rebounds (12) and assists (8).

• Cumberlander's production came while playing a career-high 49 minutes against the Hawks in the opener.

• Dating back to last season, Cumberlander has scored double-figures in each of his past seven games.

Sharing The Scoring

• Central had five players score in double-figures against Hartford in the season-opener.

• Khalen Cumberlander led the way with 19 points, Brandon Peel added 15 and Mustafa Jones had 13 points. Freshmen Austin Nehls (14) and Jahlil Nails (11) also scored double-figures in their first collegiate game.

• It marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2013 against Rider that Central had five players score in double-figures.

Central Connecticut in the Northeast Conference

• CCSU has posted a 144-108 record (.571) in NEC regular season play over the last 13 seasons (19-1 in 2001-02, 12-6 in 02-03, 9-9 in 03-04, 8-10 in 04-05, 13-5 in 05-06, 16-2 in 06-07, 10-8 in 07-08, 8-10 in 08-09, 9-9 in 09-10, 11-7 in 2010-11, 10-8 in 2011-12, 9-9 in 2012-13, 7-9 in 2013-14 and 3-15 in 2014-15).

• They are 82-44 (.651) at home and 62-64 (.492) away.

Peel's Blocks - Fifth All-Time

• Senior Brandon Peel recorded five blocks in the opener and has pushed his career total to 137 blocks, fifth all-time at CCSU.

• Joe Efese (150) is next up for Peel on the career list.

Double-Doubles

• Senior Brandon Peel had eight double-doubles last season and posted the 14th of his career with 17 pts and 10 reb at Penn.

• Peel has posted five double-doubles in his last nine games.

• Junior Khalen Cumberlander posted the first of his career with 19 points and 12 rebounds against Hartford.

Early NEC Stat Leaders

• In the early going of the season, Central is among the conference leaders in some categories. CCSU is averaging 5.0 blocks per game, which ranks second in the league.

• Brandon Peel is grabbing 9.7 rebounds per game to lead CCSU which grabs a league-high 30.33 defensive boards per game.

• Khalen Cumberlander is playing an NEC-high 40.0 minutes per game and giving out 5.33 assists to rank second in the league.

Peel Again

• With 10 boards at Penn senior Brandon Peel has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 24 career games.

• Peel sits atop the rebounding leaderboard for the Northeast Conference with 9.7 per game.

• Peel grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against Robert Morris on Jan. 10, 2015. He had 11 rebounds at the break.

50 Points Allowed

• Central's defense allowed a season-low 47 points in a 56-47 win over Hartford last season.

• The Blue Devils went 3-0 when holding opponents to 50 or fewer points. This marked the first time since 2010-11 that CCSU had three games of allowing 50 or fewer points.

• Central has won five straight when holding opponents below 50 dating to a 48-46 loss at FDU in 2010-11.

Dickenman Milestone

• Head Coach Howie Dickenman, now in his 20th season at his alma mater, reached two milestones in a win over UMBC last year.

• Dickenman became the second coach in school history to record his 275th victory, while at the same time he recorded his 150th career home victory with the win over the Retrievers.

• Dickenman trails only his former head coach Bill Detrick in career wins. Detrick won 468 games in 29 seasons.

Central and the Three-Point Shot - A New Streak Begins

• The Blue Devils had a streak of 557 games with a three-pointer stopped at Wagner on Jan. 31, 2015.

• Central had made a three in every game since February 29, 1996 at the University of Missouri-KC in a 76-69 loss, before going 0-for-6 vs. the Seahawks, marking the first time under head coach Howie Dickenman CCSU did not make a three.

• CCSU has hit a three-pointer in each of the 11 games since having its streak snapped.

Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll

• The NEC announced its preseason coaches poll on Oct. 27 at Social Media Day in Brooklyn, NY. Mount St. Mary's was tabbed the favorite, receiving six first-place votes.

• Central was picked 10th in the preseason coaches poll.

• The league also announced its Preseason All-NEC Team:

BK Ashe (Jr, G, Mount St. Mary's)

Cane Broome (So, G, Sacred Heart)

Dan Garvin (Jr, F, Bryant)

Gregory Graves (Sr, F, Mount St. Mary's)

Rodney Pryor (Sr, G, Robert Morris).