Men's Basketball Welcomes Robert Morris Sunday at Detrick Gymnasium
The Blue Devils and Colonials both won their league openers.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team welcomes Robert Morris to Detrick Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Devils and Colonials both won their league openers on Friday night. The contest will be part of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader. The women's game tips at 1:00 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3:30 p.m.
CCSU led wire-to-wire and held off a late rally by Saint Francis U to win 72-68 on Friday. The Colonials pulled away in the second half for a 68-54 win at Bryant in their NEC opener.
Tickets for CCSU home games 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 CCSU home games and Northeast Conference games are available to watch online, for free, at NECFrontRow.com.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION | Detrick Gymnasium (New Britain, CT)
CCSU (8-6, 1-0 NEC) vs. Robert Morris (7-7, 1-0 NEC) | Sunday, Dec. 31 | 3:30 PM
VIDEO (NECFrontRow) | LIVE STATS | @KizerBlueDevil (In-game twitter updates)
GAME NOTES | 2017-18 NCAA Rules Review Video
TODAY'S GAME • Central Connecticut closes out the calendar year and the opening weekend of Northeast Conference play against Robert Morris at Detrick Gymnasium on New Year's Eve at 3:30 p.m. Central snapped a five-game losing streak in openers, dating back to 2011-12, with its win over Saint Francis U on Friday. CCSU opened the 2011-12 season 5-0 in league play.
SERIES HISTORY • The Blue Devils and Colonials are meeting for the 39th time. RMU leads the all-time series, 22-16. Robert Morris swept last season's series and has won five of the last six meetings.
LAST TIME OUT • Central Connecticut won its Northeast Conference opener over Saint Francis, 72-68, on Friday night at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils shot 56.9 percent from the field and held off a late Red Flash rally. Sophomore Joe Hugley scored a team-high 17 points off the bench to lead four Blue Devils in double-figures. Senior Mustafa Jones had 14 points and seven rebounds, while junior Tyler Kohl added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Junior Deion Bute chipped in 10 points. The Blue Devils would build a double-digit lead in the opening 6:37 of the game. Central scored the first six points of the contest and held the Red Flash scoreless for the opening 5:09. Jones would have two baskets in a run of six straight points, including a jumper to make it 12-2 at the 13:23 mark. The Red Flash shot just 1-of-12 from the field to open the game, but would convert three-pointers on three straight possessions to get within 14-11 after a trey by Keith Braxton at the 10:40 mark. SFU would get within two points before an 8-0 CCSU run pushed the lead back to double-figures. The lead would grow to as much as 33-17 after Central outscored Saint Francis U 11-2 over a span of 2:49. Bute would have four points in the run and Hugley would score consecutive baskets, including a dunk, to close the run out at the 3:06 mark. The Blue Devils would shoot 55.6 percent from the field in the opening half, while limiting SFU to just 27.6 percent, and take a 35-21 lead into the break. Jones would score four straight points followed by a layup from junior Austin Nehls to stretch the lead to 43-23 with 17:11 remaining, giving the Blue Devils their largest lead of the night. The Blue Devils would lead 66-48, but the Red Flash would use a late 20-4 run to tie the game. Andre Wolford converted a three-point play to cap a spurt of nine unanswered points to tie the game at 68-68 with 2:13 to play, but Central would never trail. Hugley would hit two foul shots with 1:17 to play to give CCSU the lead again and the Blue Devils would force SFU into two missed shots. Junior Eric Bowles drew a charge with 6.7 seconds left to give the Central the ball back and Jones would close the scoring with a dunk just before the final horn to make it 72-68.
HUGLEY RETURNS IN A BIG WAY • Sophomore Joe Hugley led the Blue Devils in scoring after missing the previous three games. He finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in just 24 minutes. He scored nine points (4-of-4 field goals) in the first half to spark Central to a 14-point halftime lead. After Saint Francis rallied to tie the game in a second half, he would hit a pair of foul shots to give CCSU the lead again for good with 1:17 to play.
UP NEXT • Following today's game, CCSU travels to Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 4 and then Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 6. Central will next be home on Saturday, Jan. 13, against Bryant.