Robert Morris Leads Throughout, Downs Men's Basketball, 74-67

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team trailed Robert Morris throughout and fell, 74-67, on Thursday night at the Sewall Center. The Blue Devils slip to 0-7 in Northeast Conference play and 2-16 overall.

The Colonials improve to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in the NEC.

Sophomore Austin Nehls led all scorers with 22 points. Senior Khalen Cumberlander added 13 points and five rebounds. CCSU shot 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field overall and were 5-of-16 (.313) from three-point range.

The Colonials hit four of their first five shots and built a 10-3 lead in the early going following Braden Burke's layup. A dunk by Dachon Burke off a steal would extend RMU to its largest lead at 14-5 before a CCSU timeout.

The Blue Devils would cut the deficit to 30-28 in the final minute of the period. A foul shot by freshman Harrison Kay would open a spurt of five straight points by Central. Cumberlander would hit back-to-back layups to cut the RMU lead to just two points.

Robert Morris took a 33-28 lead into halftime after Kavon Stewart converted a three-point just before the break.

Nehls and Cumberlander led the Blue Devils with eight points each in the first half. The Colonials shot 50.0 percent from the field in the opening period, while Central shot 45.5 percent. RMU was 4-of-10 (.400) from three-point range, while CCSU was just 1-of-8 (.125).

A jumper in the lane by freshman Tyson Batiste would get CCSU within 43-40 with 13:49 to play, but that is as close as it would be the rest of the way. Robert Morris came back with a 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the night.

Kavon Stewart had five points during the run, including a three-pointer to make it 53-42 with 11:03 to play. 

Freshman Chris Williams would score four straight for CCSU in the closing minute to cut the deficit to five. Stewart would put the game out of reach with two foul shots for RMU to settle the final margin.

Stewart led four Colonials in double-figures with 21 points. Matty McConnell added 12 points on four three-pointers, while Dachon Burke had 11 and Aaron Tate finished with 10. RMU shot 52.0 percent overall (26-of-50) and was 7-of-16 (.438) on three-pointers. 

RMU forced CCSU into 20 turnovers and held a 25-14 edge in points off of turnovers for the game. 

Central next travels to Saint Francis U. for a 3:00 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 21. The game will be carried live on ESPN3.