Men's Basketball Falls Short at Saint Francis U on Friday, 68-67

January 21, 2022

The Central Connecticut men's basketball fell 68-67 at Saint Francis U on Friday night in Northeast Conference action at the Stokes Center. The Blue Devils led by double-digits in the second half, but the Red Flash mounted a late charge and held on for the win after CCSU had its last-second shot misfire.

Freshman Davonte Sweatman led CCSU with 14 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Senior Stephane Ayangma added 13 points, while freshman Trenton McLaughlin had 11 points and junior Nigel Scantlebury finished with 10. Central shot 26-of-54 (.481) overall and went 9-of-23 (.391) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils shot 6-of-9 (.667) at the foul line.

Myles Thompson scored 17 of his game-high 21 points after halftime. The Red Flash shot 28-of-56 (.500) overall and 7-of-21 (.333) from three-point range. SFU was 5-of-10 (.500) at the foul stripe.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 67, SFU 68
Records: CCSU (4-15, 2-5 NEC), Saint Francis U. (6-12, 2-5 NEC)
Location: DeGol Arena | Loretto, PA

KEY MOMENTS

The Blue Devils used a 13-3 run to take a narrow 18-15 lead midway through the first half. Senior Stephane Ayangma, junior Ian Krishnan and freshman Jayden Brown each had three-pointers for CCSU in the early going.
Ayangma, junior Nigel Scantlebury and freshman Davonte Sweatman opened the game a combined 10-for-11 from the field. CCSU would lead 35-27 after a three-pointer by junior Tre Mitchell with 0:48.4 to go in the half capped a 7-0 run. A pair of foul shots by Sweatman just before half gave Central a 37-29 lead at the intermission after a 9-2 run.
The Blue Devils would build a double-figure lead early in the second half following a three-pointer by Krishnan to make it 43-31. The Red Flash would claw back into the contest with eight straight points as part of an 11-2 run to make it 45-42 with 13:08 to play.
The Red Flash would get within 57-56 with just under eight minutes to play, before going ahead on a put back by Mark Flagg with 7:27 remaining. SFU would push the lead to three points after scoring six straight as part of a 10-2 run.
Saint Francis would extend its lead to 67-62 with 2:28 to play on the heels of a 7-0 run. Krishnan would make it a one-possession game with 1:19 to play to spark Central's late charge. Scantlebury would hit a pair of foul shots with 0:38 remaining to make it 68-67, but his jumper on the final possession would miss the mark.

NUMBER TO KNOW

30 - Central got 30 points of bench production, outscoring SFU 30-17.

NOTES

Saint Francis U leads the all-time series, 25-23.
Ayangma shot 5-of-6 from the floor in the game, while Sweatman finished 6-of-9. They played 28 and 27 minutes, respectively, off the bench for Central, which used just eight players in the game.
Freshman Arian Dehnavi started his fifth game for CCSU. He grabbed three rebounds.
Krishnan now has 961 career points and 179 career three-pointers, which ranks third and second among active NEC players, respectively. He ranks 8th on the CCSU career three-pointer chart.
The game was tied 62-62 with 5:00 to play, marking the first time this season the Blue Devils were in a tied game at the five-minute mark.
The one-point loss by Central was its first since an 85-84 loss at Hartford in overtime on November 10, 2017.
CCSU used just eight players in the game, whith seven of them playing at least 18 minutes.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils travel to Mount St. Mary's for a 2:00 p.m. contest on Sunday afternoon.