Men's Basketball Slowed by Brown on Wednesday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell at Brown, 82-64, on Wednesday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, RI. The Blue Devils hit 5-of-9 three-pointers after halftime, but were unable to overcome the Bears shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half.

The loss drops the Blue Devils to 0-6 on the season, while Brown improves to 2-5.

Central took an early lead after three straight points by junior JJ Cratit gave CCSU a 13-12 lead with 11:56 to play in the first half. Brown responded with 11 unanswered points and used a 14-2 run to take a 26-15 lead following a three-pointer by Cedric Kuakumensah.

A three-pointer by junior Khalen Cumberlander trimmed the Blue Devils deficit to 32-23 with 5:00 left in the half. The Bears scored the final 11 points of the period and took a 43-23 lead into the break after a layup by Corey Daugherty.

Sophomore Mustafa Jones hit his first three field goals of the second half to spark the Central offense, but Tavon Blackmon and Corey Daugherty combined for 14 straight points for Brown as the Bears pushed the lead to 59-40.

Brown would go ahead by as much as 69-46 and the Blue Devils could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way following three-pointers on three straight trips from freshmen Austin Nehls and Jahlil Nails. A foul shot by freshman Evan Phoenix closedthe scoring the scoring for the night at 82-64.

Cumberlander led CCSU with 13 points, while Jones and Nails added 12 and 10, respectively. Jones grabbed a team-high and matched a personal-best with nine rebounds as Central held a 51-43 edge on the glass.

Kuakumensah led Brown with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Blackmon added 14 points as the Bears had four players in double-figures in total. Brown shot 46.9 percent from the field for the game, while holding CCSU to just 31.5 percent

The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. game at Fordham in the Bronx, NY.