Mount St. Mary's Tops Blue Devils on Saturday in Detrick Gym
Blue Devils will travel to LIU Brooklyn on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped its 10th straight game and falls to 2-13 overall and 0-4 in Northeast Conference play after a 77-68 home loss to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Devils were led by senior Khalen Cumberlander who scored a career-high 26 points in the home loss. Sophomore Austin Nehls added 13 points.
With the win the Mount is now 5-12 overall and 3-1 in NEC play. Central will play at LIU Brooklyn next Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The Blue Devils trailed 30-27 at the half and shot 44 percent from the floor (11-of-25) but hit only one three point shot. They turned the ball over just five times and hit on 4-of-8 from the free-throw line. They had a one point lead, 27-26, but didn't score in the final 1:24 as the Mount scored the last four points of the half to take the lead.
Central held the Mount to only one three in nine attempts, as the Mountaineers shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) from the field in the half. They outrebounded the Blue Devils 21-15 before the break.
Cumberlander led the Blue Devils with eight points in the first half.
The Mount took a 49-36 lead with under 14 minutes to play in the second half making 7-of-10 from the field and each of their first three three point attempts after halftime.
The Blue Devils scored five straight to cut the lead to 49-41 on the first basket of the game from junior Kevin Seymour. The fourth three of the half for the Mount pushed the lead to 52-41.
The lead reached 12 before Cumberlander hit back-to-back drives to the basket to make it 54-46 with 9:30 left. The Mount answered, again, with its fifth three of the half to make it 57-46. The lead would reach 13 before a Nehls offensive rebound ana bucket stopped the quick Mount 5-0 run and made it 59-48.
The Blue Devils cut the lead to five, 59-54, on three straight hoops from Cumberlander, to make it 59-54 with 5:15 to play. The third bucket gave him 20 points for the second time this season. His new career-high, 22, cut the lead to 60-56.
The Mount answered with six straight to push the lead back to 10, 66-56, with under three minutes to play.
The Blue Devils return to action next Thursday night on the road at LIU Brooklyn and will then host defending league champ Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
