Men's Basketballs Falls at Hartford in Overtime, 85-84

Central Connecticut dropped the season-opener, 85-84, in overtime at Hartford in men's basketball action on Friday night at Chase Arena. Junior Tyler Kohl scored 21 points to lead four Blue Devils in double-figures.

The loss drops the Blue Devils to 0-1 on the year as the teams met to open the season for the third straight year. The team's also played an overtime contest two seasons ago, with Hartford taking a 92-83 win in double-overtime.

CCSU travels to Rutgers on Sunday for a 2:30 p.m. game.

Junior Tyler Kohl led the Blue Devils with 21 points and eight rebounds. Junior Austin Nehls scored 18 points, going 5-for-8 from three-point range, while senior Mustafa Jones had 11 points and sophomore Joe Hugley added 10 points off the bench.

CCSU shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field and was 11-of-21 (.524) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were just 15-of-26 (.577) at the foul line and committed 15 turnovers. 

The Hawks shot 49.2 percent (31-of-63) for the game and were 10-of-30 (.333) from the arc. Hartford was 13-of-20 from the foul line and were able to overcome a 35-32 rebounding deficit.

John Carroll led all players with 26 points and nine rebounds. J.R. Lynch chipped in with 16 points for the Hawks, while Travis Weatherington had 14 and Jason Dunne finished with 13 points.

Hartford scored the game's first five points and would lead 10-2 just over two minutes into the game after a layup by John Carroll.

Central used a 10-0 run spanning both halves to build a five-point lead. Senior Mustafa Jones' dunk just before halftime would give the Blue Devils a 37-35 lead at the intermission. Junior Austin Nehls would hit a three-pointer to open the second half and extend the Central lead to 40-35.

Hartford would fight back with an 12-0 run, while holding Central without a field goal for over six minutes. Jack Hobbs' three-pointer with 5:57 to play would give the Hawks their first lead of the second half at 65-63.

Central would end its field goal drought on a bucket by junior Tyler Kohl with 3:17 remaining to tie the game at 67-67.

Following another three-pointer by Hobbs, the Hawks would lead 75-73 with 41 seconds to go. Kohl, who had nine points in the final 3:47 for CCSU, would answer with a driving lay-in to knot the game at 75 with 25 seconds left as the contest headed to overtime.

Carroll and Hobbs would score four straight points in overtime to give Hartford an 83-79 lead with 18.7 seconds. Kohl would hit a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left to give CCSU hope, but the Hawks inbounded the ball to run out the clock and earn the win.

The one-point loss was the first for CCSU since falling, 64-63, in overtime to Fairfield on Nov. 10, 2012.

The Blue Devils return to action on Sunday, Nov. 12, with a 2:30 p.m. game at Rutgers.