Men's Basketball Holds Off St. Francis Brooklyn, 78-72, on Thursday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fended off St. Francis Brooklyn, 78-72, on Thursday night at Detrick Gymnasium in Northeast Conference action. Senior Tyler Kohl posted his fourth double-double of the year with a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds along with five assists. The Blue Devils made 18 straight foul shots to close the game and hold off the Terriers.

Freshman Ian Krishnan added 16 points, hitting four three-pointers, and junior Jamir Coleman posted 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior Deion Bute contributed 12 points and eight rebounds. 

Central shot 25-of-63 (.397) from the field and connected on seven three-pointers. The Blue Devils made 21-of-24 (.875) from the foul line, including their final 18 attempts of the game. CCSU held a 42-36 rebounding edge.

The win snapped a four game losing streak and moves CCSU to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in the NEC. 

The Blue Devils host Bryant on Saturday in a basketball doubleheader. The women's teams tip off at 1:00 p.m., followed by the men at 3:30 p.m.

Central built an early 10-3 lead with Bute eight points in the opening 3:43. Bute's layup with 16:17 to go in the half opened up an early seven-point lead.

St. Francis came back with an 11-0 run and took a 14-10 lead on a Jalen Jordan three-pointer at the 11:56 mark of the first half. 

Kohl would answer with back-to-back three-pointers and a foul shot to give CCSU a 17-14 lead. A Krishnan jumper capped a spurt of nine unanswered points with just under seven minutes left in the half.

The Blue Devils would build a 34-24 lead with 1:01 to go in the period. After the Terriers got within, 26-24, Krishnan hit a three-pointer to open a spurt of eight straight points for Central. Coleman closed the spurt with five straight points to give CCSU it's largest lead of the half.

After a St. Francis three-pointer, CCSU took a 36-27 lead into halftime following two foul shots by Kohl just before intermission.

Central shot 11-of-33 (.333) in the first half and was 11-of-14 (.786) at the foul line. CCSU forced 12 Terriers turnovers in the period and limited them to 10-of-31 (.323) shooting. Kohl posted 16 points and seven rebounds in the opening period.

The Terriers would roll off 10 unanswered points to cut the CCSU lead to 43-40. Rosel Hurley opened the spurt with two foul shots and a three-pointer by Jalen Jordan with 16:25 to play cut the Central lead to three points. 

A pair of foul shots by Coleman would end the scoring run, but a St. Francis layup was followed by a Krishnan three-poiner to make it 48-42.

Jordan would follow with a trey to cut the lead to 48-45 with 15:11 to play. Glenn Sanabria hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game before Coleman answered to push the lead back to 50-47.

A three-pointer by Kohl would make it 55-49 with 11:35 to play, but the lead wouldn't get any larger as the teams would trade baskets over the next four minutes. A layup by Deniz Celen was followed by two Chauncey Hawkins foul shots to tie the game at 61-61.

CCSU would respond with a dunk by freshman Karrington Wallace off a nice pass from junior Tyson Batiste and a three-pointer by Krishnan to push the lead to 66-61 with 6:17 remaining.

St. Francis answered with six straight points and a dunk by Yaradyah Evans put the Terriers ahead 67-66 with 3:50 to play. A pair of Jordan free throws pushed the lead to 69-66.

The Blue Devils regained the lead with a quick 6-1 run. Krishnan hit a jumper followed by a layup by Bute to make it 70-69. After a St. Francis foul shot, Kohl hit a short basket to make it 72-70 with 1:43 to play.

The Terriers miss a shot and turn it over with under a minute to play. The Blue Devils would convert six foul shots in the final 20 seconds to close the game out.

St. Francis was led by Jordan's 23 points to lead four in double-figures. The Terriers were 24-of-60 (.400) for the game and connected on 12 three-pointers.