Peel Posts Seventh Straight Double-Double But Men Fall at Sacred Heart

Senior Brandon Peel posted his seventh straight double-double but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped a 87-52 road decision to Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon in Fairfield.  The Pioneers led from start to finish to capture their sixth win in their last eight games.  The Blue Devils were led by Peel who had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

The Blue Devils are now 3-22 overall and 2-12 in Northeast Conference play with the loss.  Sacred Heart improves to 9-16 overall and 8-6 in league play with the victory.  

Sacred Heart's Cane Broome led all scorers on the day with 28 points, including the 1,000th of his career.  He was 9-of-15 from the field and made a pair of threes.

The Pioneers scored the first 11 points of the game before the Blue Devils got on the board with a three point play from freshman Jahlil Nails with 15:47 on the clock.  

They cut the lead to 21-15 with 10:20 left in the first half before the Pioneers used a 9-2 run to push the lead back to 30-17 with 6:08 left.  Sacred Heart pushed the lead to 36-22 with their fourth three pointer of the half with 3:26 to play.  

The Pioneer run in the final eight minutes reached 20-8 as the home team took a 43-25 lead at halftime.  SHU shot 16-of-30 (53 percent) from the field before halftime and made five threes and led by as many as 21 in the half.  The Blue Devils struggled from the field and made just 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) and made just 3-of-9 from three.  Peel had eight points and six rebounds in the first half to lead the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils scored the first basket of the second half but the Pioneers continued their hot shooting and built the lead to as much as 35 in the half.  With a 49-31 lead they ran off a 14-2 run to make it 63-33 with 12:31 to play in the game.

Central struggled from the field hitting on just 17-of-62 from the field, just 27.4 percent, and just 4-of-19 from three.  

The Blue Devils were led by Peel who is now averaging close to 12 points and just under 10 rebounds in league play this season.   His 11 rebounds give him 830 in his career with CCSU.  He is averaging 13 rebounds per game during his double-double streak and now has 12 double-doubles on the season.  Freshman Malik Toppin added nine points and four rebounds.  Sophomore Kevin Seymour had five points to go along with seven assists.

The Blue Devils return home for three of their final four games of the regular season beginning on Thursday night hosting Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. in Detrick Gym.