Second Half Flurry Lifts Mount St. Mary's By Men's Basketball

Central Connecticut fell to Mount St. Mary's, 71-57, on Thursday night in Northeast Conference men's basketball action. The Mountaineers shot nearly 56 percent after intermission to erase a five-point Blue Devils lead. Junior Tyler Kohl had 24 points, while sophomore Joe Hugley added 16 points to lead Central.

CCSU dropped its fourth straight to fall to 12-14 overall and 5-8 in the NEC, while Mount St. Mary's won its fifth straight to go to 15-11 overall and 9-4 in the NEC.

CCSU will host Sacred Heart on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Kohl scored Central's first five points to tie the game at the 16:37 mark in the opening period before Mount ran off six straight points. Junior Robinson accounted for all six Mountaineers points to make it 11-5 at the 13:38 mark.

The Blue Devils would hit three straight three-pointers to take their first lead of the night. Freshman Kashaun Hicks would hit a trey and Hugley would hit a pair. A layup by Kohl and trifecta from Hugley would cap five straight CCSU points to make it 18-16. Central would extend the run with a short jumper by senior Mustafa Jones to go up four with 7:01 in the half.

A Mountaineers layup would break the run before Central came back with six straight points to take their largest lead of the night. The Blue Devils would hit four foul shots before junior Eric Bowles would slip a bounce pass to junior Deion Bute for a layup to make it 26-18.

Mount would trim the lead to three points late in the period, but CCSU would answer with three-pointers from Hugley and junior Austin Nehls down the stretch to take a 32-27 lead into intermission. 

The Mountaineers would regain the lead with a 10-2 run early in the second half. Robinson would score five straight and his three-pointer would make it 37-36 with 15:34 to play.

CCSU would go over six minutes without a field goal as Mount St. Mary's would push the lead to 44-39. Donald Carey accounted for seven straight for the Mountaineers and his three-pointer with 11:44 to play would push the lead to five points.

A layup by Nehls and two foul shots from Kohl would get Central back within, 44-43, at the midway point of the period, but Carey would convert a four-point play and a Robinson layup would start a run of eight unanswered points to push the lead to double-figures. The Mountaineers would lead by as much as 71-55 in the closing minute before a CCSU bucket closed out the scoring.

Kohl added a team-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing the double-double. Kohl and Hugley were the only Blue Devils to score in double-figures. CCSU did outrebound Mount, 33-25.

Central shot 19-of-51 (.373) overall and 8-of-23 (.348) from the three-point line.

Robinson scored a game-high 32 points to lead a trio of Mountaineers in double-figures. He added five assists and a block.

Mount shot 27-of-52 (.519) from the field and was 9-of-25 (.360) from the arc.

Central returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Sacred Heart at 4:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

CCSU will also recognize former men's basketball coach Howie Dickenman, who was recently named to the Northeast Conference Hall of Fame. 

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.