Men's Basketball Falls at Mount St. Mary's, 73-62
Mustafa Jones posts first career double-double.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell to Mount St. Mary's, 73-62, on Thursday night at Knott Arena. The Blue Devils slip to 1-13 overall and 0-3 in Northeast Conference play, while Mount is now 6-10 overall and 3-0 in the NEC.
Sophomore Mustafa Jones led CCSU with his first career double-double, posting career-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jahlil Nails added 12 points off the bench and junior Khalen Cumberlander added 10 points.
Central shot a season-best 48.1 percent from the field, going 23-of-47 overall. The Blue Devils also held a 35-29 edge on the glass. Mount St. Mary's shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) and took advantage of 17 CCSU turnovers, posting a 26-6 margin in points off turnovers.
The Mountaineers built a double-digit lead scoring the first seven points of the second half. A jumper by BK Ashe gave Mount a 41-30 lead and capped an 11-0 run that stretched over both halves.
Central would hang in and cut the deficit to three points. A layup by Cumberlander made it 58-55 with just over five minutes to play, but Mount scored the next seven points to push the lead to double-figures. The Mountaineers would stretch the run to a 15-2 spurt and take their largest lead of the night at 73-57 with 12 seconds remaining before CCSU scored the final five points.
The Blue Devils matched Mount run for run in the opening half as the teams traded leads five times and were tied on four occasions. Jones led the CCSU offense, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and grabbing six rebounds.
