Men's Basketball Holds Off Fairleigh Dickinson to Win, 76-75

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team built a big lead and held off Fairleigh Dickinson, 76-75, on Thursday in Northeast Conference action at Detrick Gymnasium. Central built an 18-point lead in the first half and shot 67 percent in the opening period before holding off a rally by the Knights. The Blue Devils have won two in a row and improve to 4-24 overall and 3-12 in the NEC, while Fairleigh Dickinson is 8-17 overall and 6-8 in the NEC.

Sophomore Ian Krishnan led three in double-figures with 16 points. Freshman Trey Tennyson added 11 points, while classmate Myles Baker chipped in 10 points. Central shot 29-of-53 (.547) from the field and was 8-of-15 (.533) from the three-point arc. CCCSU was 10-of-11 (.909) at the foul line, with the only miss coming with .6 seconds to play annd run the clock out.

Xzavier Malone-Key and Brandon Powell led FDU with 16 points apiece, while Kaleb Bishop added 13 points. The Knights shot 27-of-66 (.409) overall and were 9-of-19 (.474) from the arc, while going 12-of-14 (.857) from the foul line.

Central hits the road to face Wagner on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION

Score: Central Connecticut 76, Fairleigh Dickinson 75
Records: CCSU (4-24, 3-12 NEC), FDU (8-17, 6-8 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils built a 20-9 lead, outscoring the Knights 12-2 in a 2:55 span. Freshman Trey Tennyson had back-to-back trifectas for CCSU to highlight the spurt and force an FDU timeout with 13:16 to go in the opening period.
• CCSU would score 10 unanswered points midway through the period to take their largest lead of the game. A layup by freshman Greg Outlaw with 7:11 to go in the opening half put Central ahead 33-15. Central would maintain a double-figure lead and went into halftime ahead 47-34 after a three-pointer by Krishnan.
• Central was held without a field goal for over six minutes midway through the second half and Fairleigh Dickinson was able to trim the margin to 62-56. A jumper by freshman Myles Baker ended the field goal drought before Krishnan hit a three-pointer for his first points of the second half with 5:00 to play and push the lead back to 67-56.
• A Jahlil Jenkins three-pointer with 3:04 to play trimmed the CCSU lead to 69-66. The Knights would get within 71-70 with 1:23 to play after a drive by Xzavier Malone-Key, but Baker answered with a three-pointer to push the margin to four. After a three-pointer by Powell with 0.6 seconds to play again cut the CCSU lead to one, Krishnan was fouled on the inbounds and intentionally missed the foul shot to effectively run the clock out on the rebound.

COACH QUOTE

"You get the experience," said head coach Donyell Marshall when talking about the Blue Devils team playing seven freshman on the year and building on that throughout the year. "Experience is good because you come back with these guys who know how to play, they know how the NEC is and they know how the non-conference is and they're prepared and ready to go. They know we get a couple more guys and we're on the cusp of being pretty good."

NUMBER TO KNOW

37 - The Blue Devils bench outscored FDU, 37-17. The CCSU reserves have outscored opponents in seven straight games.

NOTES

• The Knights lead the all-time series, 27-20, but the teams split the season series for the third straight season.
• Krishnan had 11 points in the first half and was 5-for-5 from the field. He finished the game 6-of-9 from the field. Tennyson scored all 11 of his points in the first half.
• Central shot a season-best 67.9% (19-of-28) in the first half, including 5-of-7 (.714) from three-point range.
• Sophomore Karrington Wallace added 8 points (4-of-7) and a team-high 7 rebounds.
• Freshman Greg Outlaw added 8 points, 5 rebounds , 2 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks off the bench.
• CCSU outscored FDU on points off turnovers, 17-13. 
• Central trailed 5-4 with 17:21 left in the first half, but after a jumper by freshman Xavier Wilson on the next possession the Blue Devils never trailed again.

UP NEXT
Central hits the road to face Wagner on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.