The Central Connecticut men's basketball team will face two of the hottest teams in the Northeast Conference this week. CCSU opened the weekend with a 60-49 loss at LIU Brooklyn. The Blue Devils return home to host Fairleigh Dickinson, the defending NEC champion, on Saturday.
Central will be looking to pick up its first win since the calendar turned to 2017. The Blue Devils fell, 77-68, to Mount St. Mary's in their last home game on Saturday, Jan. 7.
The Blackbirds have won four in a row after downing CCSU. They won a pair of games over Saint Francis U. and Robert Morris on the road last weekend. FDU, dropped its first NEC game Thursday, falling 77-70 at Mount St. Mary's. FDU had won its first four games of conference play to stake its share atop the standings.
Tickets can be purchased at CCSUTickets.com or at the box office upon entry to Kaiser Hall and Detrick Gymnasium. Admission for all CCSU students, faculty and staff is free of charge with a valid Blue Chip card.
All NEC games home and away are available to stream, for free, at NECFrontRow.com.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Radio: (News Radio 1410 | iHeartRadio Mobile App)
Talent: Bruce Biel (Play-by-Play), Marc Robbins (Analyst)
Twitter: @KizerBlueDevil (in-game updates)
at LIU Brooklyn (11-7, 4-1 NEC) | Thursday, Jan. 12 • 7:00 PM | CCSU Notes | LIU Brooklyn Notes
NECFrontRow | Live Stats | Listen (News Radio 1410)
vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (6-10, 4-1 NEC) | Saturday, Jan. 14 • 3:30 PM | CCSU Notes | Fairleigh Dickinson Notes
NECFrontRow | Live Stats | Listen (News Radio 1410)
Series Notes vs. LIU Brooklyn:
• Series Record: LIU leads, 22-19
• First Meeting: Dec. 7, 1964 (LIU, 76-74)
• Last Meeting: Jan. 12, 2017 (LIU, 60-49)
• Last CCSU Win: Feb. 27, 2014 (86-82)
• Current CCSU Streak: L5
• Last LIU Win: Jan. 12, 2017 (60-49)
Series Notes vs. Fairleigh Dickinson:
• Series Record: FDU leads, 22-17
• First Meeting: Dec. 14, 1988 (FDU, 75-74)
• Last Meeting: Feb. 27, 2016 (FDU, 81-75)
• Last CCSU Win: Feb. 8, 2014 (91-86 ot)
• Current CCSU Streak: L4
• Last FDU Win: Feb. 27, 2017 (75-81)
CCSU Notes:
• Senior
Khalen Cumberlander led the NEC last week, averaging 22.0 points per game in two games. He had a career-high 26 against Mount St. Mary's to earn NEC Prime Performer honors.
• Junior
Mustafa Jones scored a career-high 23 points against Sacred Heart. He ranks second on the team in conference play, scoring 13.3 points per game.
• CCSU averages 32.0 points in the paint led by Jones (10.5 ppg) and senior
Tidell Pierre (10.1 ppg).
LIU Brooklyn Notes:
• Jerome Frink earned NEC co-Player of the Week honors after picking up two double-doubles in LIU wins last week. He averaged 20.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.5 apg and shot 56.3 percent from the field.
• Nura Zanna was named an NEC Prime Performer after posting two double-doubles to increase his season total to eight. He averaged 11.0 ppg, 13.0 rpg and shot 62.5 percent from the field.
• The Blackbirds are the top rebounding team in league play, posting a +14.7 rebounding margin.
Fairleigh Dickinson Notes:
• Stephan Jiggetts was named an NEC Prime Performer after keeping FDU unbeaten last week. He posted 18.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 6.5 apg in wins over Wagner and Bryant.
• Darian Anderson ranks second in the league, scoring 18.5 points per game overall. He is the leading active scorer in the conference with 1,112 points.
• Three of the Knights' four wins in NEC play have come by four points or less. FDU has shot 86.1 percent from the line (62-of-72) from the stripe to start conference play.
Last Time Out
LIU Brooklyn held off Central Connecticut in the second half for a 60-49 win on Thursday at the Steinberg Center. CCSU was within four points in the second half, but the Blackbirds held off the late charge.
The Blue Devils would build a 5-1 lead in the early going following a pair of foul shots by freshman
Chris Williams. LIU came back with eight straight points and back-to-back three-pointers by Raul Frias made it 9-5.
A jumper by freshman
Harrison Kay would get CCSU within 16-15 before LIU Brooklyn outscored CCSU, 10-5, over the last 4:22 of the first half to build a 26-20 lead at the intermission.
Jerome Frink scored seven straight for LIU to open the second half and the Blackbirds built a 33-22 lead with 15:14 to play. The Blue Devils would cut into the deficit behind 10 straight points from sophomore
Austin Nehls. His three-pointer with 11:27 got CCSU within 38-34.
CCSU would be unable to cut the deficit any further and the LIU defense held the Blue Devils to just one field goal during a nearly six-minute stretch. Fleming would hit a three-pointer with 37 seconds to play and then hit four foul shots to settle the final margin.
Senior
Khalen Cumberlander and Nehls led CCSU with 13 points. Junior
Mustafa Jones finished with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. CCSU shot 35.4 percent overall and was 4-of-8 from three-point range.
Up Next
Central will travel to Robert Morris and Saint Francis U. on Jan. 19 & 21, respectively, before returning to Detrick Gymnasium for three straight home games beginning with a tilt against Bryant on Jan. 25. The game will be televised on MSG+ and Fox College Sports. The CCSU coaching staff will also be participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer "Sneakers and Suits" for the game against the Bulldogs.
