Men's Basketball Falls at Mount St. Mary's, 73-62

Mustafa Jones posts first career double-double.

Men's Basketball Falls at Mount St. Mary's, 73-62
January 7, 2016

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.

After seven straight points gave Mount a 30-24 lead, the Blue Devils came back with six straight of their own. Cumberlander bookended the spurt with two baskets, including a falling away jumper to tie it at 30-30. The Mountaineers scored the last four points of the period, including a dunk by Chris Wray just before the horn to give Mount a 34-30 lead at the break.

Junior Robinson scored 15 points in the second half on his way to 17 points to lead Mount. Gregory Graves added 13 and Chris Wray added 10 points.

The Blue Devils play at Fairleigh Dickinson at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

 

Get all your CCSU Athletics apparel and gifts HERE.

For continuing coverage of Central Connecticut Athletics, follow the Blue Devils on social media on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube.

Watch home events on NECFrontRow.com and the NEC on the Run App.

Fans can also subscribe to a Newsletter and Text Alerts. #GoBlueDevils