Men's Basketball Stopped at Fairleigh Dickinson, 79-71

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell at Fairleigh Dickinson, 79-71, on Wednesday night at Stratis Arena. The Knights took the lead in the opening minutes and the Blue Devils were unable to recover despite cutting into the deficit throughout the game. The teams are both 1-1 in Northeast Conference play.

Central falls to 1-4 on the season, while FDU is 1-5.

Sophomore Xavier Wilson scored a career-high 16 points to lead four Blue Devils in double-figures. Junior Tre Mitchell and sophomore Myles Baker added 15 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench. Junior Nigel Scantlebury had 12 points along with six assists and no turnovers.

CCSU shot 24-of-58 (.414) in the game and was 7-of-22 (.318) from the three-point line. Central was just 16-of-27 (.593) from the free throw line.

The Knights show 27-of-52 (.519) overall and 8-of-18 (.444) from three-point range, while going 17-of-29 (.586) at the foul line. Elyjah Williams had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and led six Knights in double-figures.

Central will play its first home game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 15, when St. Francis Brooklyn visits Detrick Gymnasium. No fans will be admitted to home games, but all action will be available for free, online, at www.NECFrontRow.com.

Additional non-conference games and any schedule changes will be announced as they become available.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Central Connecticut 71, Fairleigh Dickinson 79
Records: CCSU (1-4, 1-1 NEC), FDU (1-5, 1-1 NEC)
Location: Stratis Arena | Hackensack, NJ

KEY MOMENTS

• Junior Ian Krishnan hit an early three-pointer, but the Knights responded with 10 unanswered points to go ahead 12-3 and held the Blue Devils scoreless for nearly four minutes to force a CCSU timeout with 16:05 to go in the opening half.
• Central would claw back to withing three points after holding the Knights scoreless for almost three minutes. Junior Tre Mitchell powered the charge with five points on back-to-back baskets.
• The Knights would push the lead to double-figures after scoring six straight as part of a 9-2 run. A Brandon Rush foul shot would make it 26-16 with 8:12 to go in the half.
• CCSU would get within 32-31 following an 8-0 run that included a three-pointer by junior Tre Mitchell and four foul shots from junior Nigel Scantlebury. FDU would recover by holding Central without a field goal over the last 3:54 to build a 39-32 lead at halftime.
• Krishnan hit a pair of three-pointers to open the second half, but the Knights would use a 7-0 run to take its a double-digit lead with 15:01 to play, making it 54-42
• The Blue Devils would use a 9-1 run over a 3:23 span to get within 55-51 with 11:47 to play. Junior Karrington Wallace punctuated the spurt with a dunk. The Knights would respond by pushing the lead back to double-figures before a 9-1 spurt capped by a three-point play by sophomore Myles Baker and a layup by sophomore Xavier Wilson got Central within, 64-62, but the game would get no closer.

QUOTABLE

"To be able to come in and split on their home court is good," said head coach Donyell Marshall of going 1-1 at FDU. "We definitely felt like we could've come in here and won both games, but we have to do a better job shooting at the free throw line. We took care of the ball better and had assists, but we took some bad shots. Yesterday we moved the ball and took good shots, but today early on we got a lot of one-on-one play and they got a big lead that we couldn't recover from."

NUMBER TO KNOW

10 - Central committed a season-low 10 turnovers in the game.

NOTES

• Fairleigh Dickinson holds a 28-21 edge in the all-time series. The Knights won for the first time in the last three meetings.
• The teams have split the regular-season series in each of the past four seasons.
• Wilson was 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 at the foul line. He grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
• Scantlebury had a six assists for the second straight game.
• Mitchell was 6-of-11 from the field and has now scored in double-figures in three straight games.
• Krishnan was 3-of-6 on three-pointers in the game and has gone 16-of-30 (.533) in four career games at Stratis Arena.
• Central 16 assists as a team and has now had at least 11 assists in four games this season.