Men's Basketball Controls Second Half in Win at Robert Morris

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team downed Robert Morris, 65-58, on Saturday in Northeast Conference action at the AJ Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The Blue Devils held the Colonials without a field goal for a 6:06 stretch in the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit. Junior Tyler Kohl scored 17 points, with 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead the CCSU offense.

Central snapped a six-game slide with the win and improved to 13-16 overall and 6-10 in the NEC. RMU slips to 15-14 overall and 9-7 in NEC play.

Robert Morris took the lead from the tip, scoring the first four points of the game. CCSU wouldn't hit its first field goal until the 15:21 mark on a three-pointer by junior Austin Nehls. 

Central would lead 7-6 before RMU came back with eight straight points. A three-pointer by Chris Coalmon opened the spurt and a foul shot by David Cole made it 14-7 with 9:09 to play in the half.

The Colonials would push the lead to as much as 21-12 in the opening period. RMU would use a 6-1 spurt to go ahead 30-21 with eight seconds left in the half. Freshman Kashaun Hicks would hit a put-back layup as the horn sounded to make it 30-23 at the half.

CCSU outscored RMU, 16-5, over a span of 7:04 in the second half to take its first lead of the second half. Kohl would open the spur and a three-point play by junior Deion Bute would get CCSU within, 36-32.

A dunk by senior Mustafa Jones tied the game at 41-41 and a layup by Kohl with 11:05 to play gave the Blue Devils their first lead since the early going. 

A three-pointer by Nehls and a foul shot from Kohl would push the lead to 57-50 with 3:29 to go. The Colonials would get a layup to end a field goal drought of 6:05 to cut the deficit to five points and then came up with a steal. RMU looked poised to trim the deficit to one possession before Hicks was able to get a block from behind and snuff out the Colonials rally.

CCSU shot 24-of-53 (.453) from the field in the game and was 15-of-32 (.469) in the second half. The Blue Devils outrebounded the Colonials, 46-32, and held a 36-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Kohl posted his eighth double-double of the season, scoring all 17 of his points and grabbing nine rebounds after halftime. Jones finished with 15 points and two blocks off the bench, while junior Deion Bute had 12 points. Sophomore Joe Hugley grabbed nine rebounds, while Nehls had eight points and seven rebounds.

The Colonials shot just 8-of-25 (.320) from the field in the second half and finished the game 17-of-52 (.327). RMU was 20-of-33 (.606) at the foul line, compared to 13-of-22 (.591) for CCSU.

Dachon Burke was the only Colonial in double-figures, scoring a game-high 24 points.

Central will close the regular season at home with two games, beginning Thursday night against Wagner. Tip off is 7:00 p.m.