Men's Basketball Falls at Home to Mount St. Mary's Thursday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell to Mount St. Mary's in Northeast Conference action on Thursday, 79-66, at Detrick Gymnasium. The Mountaineers used a 20-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and did not trail over the final 35 minutes. Junior Jamir Coleman had a double-double to pace four Blue Devils in double-figures. 

CCSU slips to 11-17 overall and 5-10 in the NEC with the loss.

Coleman finished with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Joe Hugley added 17 points, while senior Deion Bute had 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior Tyson Batiste chipped in 10 points. CCSU shot 25-of-60 (.417) for the game, but was just 3-of-21 (.143) from the three-point arc. CCSU went 13-of-16 (.813) at the foul line and held a 37-31 edge on the glass, but committed 16 turnovers.

The Blue Devils are home to face Sacred Heart on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Central built an early eight-point lead with a spurt of five straight points in the early going of the first half. A jumper by junior Joe Hugley and a three-pointer by classmate Tyson Batiste made it 18-10 with 12:06 to go in the opening period.

CCSU took its largest lead of the opening half with a spurt of five straight points midway through the first half. Senior Deion Bute converted a layup before Hugley hit a three-pointer to make it 23-14 with 10:12 to go in the period.

The Mountaineers would take the lead with a late run in the half. A Dee Barnes three-pointer at the 7:00 mark would spark a spurt of 20 unanswered points. Damian Chong Qui hit back-to-back trifectas before a Jalen Gibbs layup made it 33-27 with 4:33 to go in the half. A pair of foul shots by Gibbs extended the Mountaineers' lead to double-figures.

A Bute free throw with 1:06 to go in the half would end CCSU's scoreless drought. Freshman Karrington Wallace converted an up-and-under layup to end a period of over five minutes without a field goal for Central. Hugley made three foul shots just before halftime to make it 41-33 at the intermission.

CCSU shot 12-of-26 (.462) in the opening half and held a 20-11 rebounding edge, but was hampered by 12 turnovers.

Mount St. Mary's held Central to just 2-of-7 shooting to begin the second half. A three-pointer by Vado Morse with 16:13 to play put the Mountaineers ahead 51-37.

The Mount lead would grow to as much as 15 before Central ran off seven straight points. Consecutive layups by Bute would get Central within 56-48 with 11:03 to play.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Gibbs would end the CCSU run and push the lead back to 62-48. 

A foul shot by sophomore Kashaun Hicks and five straight points by junior Jamir Coleman cut the CCSU deficit to six points. A three-point play by Coleman with 4:28 to play made it 67-61.

That would be as close as Central would get. The Mountaineers pushed the lead back to double-digits with a 9-1 run and led 76--62 before freshman Thai Segwai hit a runner in the paint and freshman Ian Krishnan hit a jumper. The Mount got a pair of foul shots to close out the scoring.

Gibbs led four Mountaineers in double-digits with 20 points. The Mount shot 26-of-56 (.464) for the game and was 8-of-22 (.364) from the arc. 

Central hosts Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.