Late Run The Difference as Men's Basketball Falls at Duquesne, 70-67

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team got a career-day from senior Tidell Pierre, but Duquesne scored the final eight points for a 70-67 win on Saturday at the A.J. Palumbo Center. The game had 10 lead changes and was tied on 11 occasions, with neither team leading by more than eight points on the afternoon.

The Blue Devils fall to 2-6 overall on the season, while the Dukes improve to 5-6.

Pierre hit his second three-pointer of the day to break a tie midway through the second half and put CCSU in front, 56-53, with 9:47 to play. A pair of foul shots by sophomore Austin Nehls would give Central its largest lead of the day at 58-53. 

The Blue Devils would continue to lead and a pair of foul shots by sophomore Eric Bowles made it 67-62 with 1:47 remaining before the Dukes would close out the game with the decisive run.

Isiaha Mike would hit a foul shot to start the Dukes' run with 1:33 to play. After Duquesne cut the deficit to two points, Mike would hit a three-pointer with 0:17 to play to give DU the lead for good at 68-67. 

Central would get the ball back and have a good luck that just missed and the Dukes got the rebound and hit two foul shots with 0:02 remaining for the final margin.

The teams played an even opening half as Central was able to take advantage of an edge on the glass and forced Duquesne into seven turnovers. Pierre scored six straight for Central at one point and his foul shot with 9:42 to go in the first half gave the Blue Devils a 16-13 lead.

Each team would use runs to trade three-point leads before Mike Lewis II would hit a three-pointer for Duquesne just before halftime to tie the score at 27-27.

Duquesne would take its largest lead of the game with a quick 6-0 run on back to back three-pointers by Mike and Lewis II to make it 38-30 with 17:47 to play.

Pierre led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. He was joined in double-figures by senior Khalen Cumberlander with 14 points, Nehls and Jones, with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Cumberlander had a team-high eight rebounds, while Bowles had seven assists.

Central shot 25-of-60 (.415) from the field, including 6-of-11 (.545) from three-point range. The Blue Devils held a 35-33 edge in rebounding and committed a season-low nine turnovers.

Mike and Lewis II led the Dukes with 17 points each. Duquesne shot 24-of-54 (.444) overall and was 9-of-25 (.360) from three-point range.

Central travels to Yale on Tuesday, Dec. 13, for a 7:00 p.m. game at John J. Lee Amphitheater.