Men's Basketball Falls at Sacred Heart on Saturday
Central hosts Mount St. Mary's on Thursday.
Central Connecticut fell at Sacred Heart, 67-54, on Saturday at the Pitt Center in Northeast Conference action. The Pioneers would score the first nine points of the second half to erase a Blue Devils lead en route to the win.
The loss drops Central to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in the NEC, while Sacred Heart is now 8-17 overall and 3-9 in the NEC.
Junior Tyler Kohl would post his third straight double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but he was the only Blue Devil in double figures.
The Blue Devils return home on Thursday, Feb. 8, to host Mount St. Mary's.
Senior Mustafa Jones opened the game's scoring, but Sacred Heart scored five straight points and would lead throughout much of the opening period. A three-pointer by Chris Robinson gave SHU its largest lead at 19-15.
The Blue Devils would recapture the lead just before halftime. A layup by junior Tyler Kohl and a three-pointer from Joe Hugley put Central ahead, 23-21, with 4:29 to go in the period.
The score was tied at 27-27 with time running out in the first half until Kohl hit a three-pointer as the clock expired to give the Blue Devils a 30-27 lead at the intermission.
Central would miss its first five shots of the second half and Sacred Heart would use a 9-0 run to take the lead. A layup by Sean Hoehn would make it 36-30 with 14:33 to play.
The Pioneers would hold the Blue Devils to one field goal in a five-minute stretch to build its largest lead of the game. After a three-pointer by Hugley made it 45-43, SHU would go on a 13-2 run. A pair of foul shots from Mario Matasovic would give Sacred Heart a 58-45 lead with 4:00 to play.
Central would cut the deficit to 59-50 with 3:06 to play, but that was as close as it would get down the stretch. Sacred Heart would limit CCSU to one field goal in the final 3:05 and close the game out, 67-54.
Central shot .468 (22-of-47) for the game, but was just 9-of-23 (.391) after halftime. CCSU shot 6-of-19 (.316) from the arc and was just 4-of-12 (.333) at the foul line.
Sacred Heart shot 27-of-54 (.500) from the field and 9-of-21 (.429) from three-point range. The Pioneers outrebounded Central, 34-28.
Matasovic led SHU with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sean Hoehn was one of four in double-figures with 16 points.
Central hosts Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night, Feb. 8, at Detrick Gymnasium.