Men's Basketball Comes up Short at Providence on Saturday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball had its second half charge run out of time, falling at Providence, 68-53, on Saturday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The Blue Devils outscored the Friars in the second half, holding them to just 24 points, but were unable to erase a 19-point halftime deficit.

Junior Tre Mitchell was the only Blue Devil to score in double figures, scoring 15 points. Junior Nigel Scantlebury added nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists, while freshman Jayden Brown finished with nine points and six rebounds. Central shot 18-of-64 (.281) from the field and 7-of-27 (.259) from three-point range. CCSU went 10-of-20 (.500) at the foul line.

A.J. Reeves led the PC offense with 17 points. The Friars shot 28-of-65 (.431) from the floor and 6-of-26 (.231) from three-point range. The Friars went 6-of-11 (.548) at the foul line.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 53, PROVIDENCE 68
Records: CCSU (2-8, 0-0 NEC), PC (10-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Location: Dunkin' Donuts Center  | Providence, RI

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU missed its first six shots and was just 1-of-10 to open the game, falling behind 16-2 in the opening six minutes. Central missed its first six three-pointers before juniors Ian Krishnan and Tre Mitchell hit back-to-back triples to make it 28-12 with just under eight minutes to go in the opening period, but would then suffer through a 1-for-7 shooting slump late in the half before scoring five unanswered points to make it 41-25 before Justin Minaya hit a three-pointer as time expired to make it a 19-point game at the intermission.
• The Blue Devils made just 1-of-9 shots to open the second half as PC had an extended 14-3 run to push its lead to 55-28 in the opening minutes of the second half. Central would cut its largest deficit by going on a 10-2 run over a six-minute span to get within 65-44. The Blue Devils would score the final seven points of the game to make it 68-53 at the final horn.

NUMBER TO KNOW

10 - Central matched a season-low, committing just 10 turnovers in the game. 

NOTES

• PC leads the all-time series, 6-2.
• Mitchell was just 3-of-10 from the field, but hit a trio of three-pointers and was 6-of-6 at the foul line to score a season-high.
• Scantlebury grabbed a career-high rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double. He matched his previous best with six rebounds in the first half.
• Freshman Andre Snoddy collected a career-high three steals.
• The Blue Devils had a +1 (11-10) turnover advantage and has now committed fewer than 16 turnovers in the past nine games.
• Central had a 25-9 advantage in scoring from its reserves, but the Friars took advantage of their size to outscore CCSU, 40-22 in the paint.

UP NEXT

 The Blue Devils travel to Stony Brook for a 6:30 p.m. tip on Tuesday.