Men's Basketball Drops Regular Season Finale to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday

February 26, 2022

The Central Connecticut men's basketball dropped the regular season finale to Mount St. Mary's 65-46 in Northeast Conference action on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils will now turn their attention to the NEC Tournament where they will face FDU in the Opening Round Game on Monday night in Hackensack, NJ.

Juniors Nigel Scantlebury and Tre Mitchell scored 19 and 10 points, respectively, to lead CCSU. Central shot 13-of-47 (.277) overall and was 7-of-24 (.292) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils went 13-of-17 (.765) at the foul line.

Mount St. Mary's was led by Jalen Benjamin's 19 points and Nana Opoku, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Mount shot 23-of-49 (.469) overall and 9-of-20 (.450) from three-point range.The Mount went 10-of-13 (.769) from the foul line.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 46, Mount St. Mary's 65
Records: CCSU (7-23, 5-13 NEC), MOUNT (13-15, 9-9 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

The Mount scored the first five points and never trailed in the game. CCSU would cut the deficit to 8-5 after a three-pointer by junior Ian Krishnan, but that was as close as the Blue Devils would get. Mount would hold Central scoreless for nearly seven minutes, while extending its lead to 16-5. Mount would lead by as much as 29-11 in the opening period before taking a 34-16 lead into halftime.
CCSU would outscore Mount, 9-4, to open the second half and cut the margin to 38-25 with 15:00 remaining after two foul shots by Krishnan. The Mountaineers would regain momentum with six straight points. Central would have an 8-0 run midway through the half after consecutive threes from freshman Trenton McLaughlin and Scantlebury and foul shots by Mitchell to make it 47-34 with 10:46 to play, but the Blue Devils would have just two field goals over an eight-minute span as the Mount would keep control of the game.

NUMBER TO KNOW

7 - Central had seven three-pointers on Saturday. Since combining to shoot 20-of-40 (.500) from the arc in consecutive games on Feb. 5 and 10, the Blue Devils have gone 34-of-111 (.306) in the last five games of the regular season and have not connected on more than eight three-pointers in a game. CCSU had a season-high 11 treys on Feb. 5 against FDU.

NOTES

Mount swept the season series and leads the all-time series, 26-23.
Scantlebury added a team-high three assists and two steals. He has scored in double-figures 17 times.
Mitchell went 4-of-4 at the foul line and has 11 double-digit contests.
Freshman Andre Snoddy grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. It was the 18th time he led CCSU in rebounding in a game and grabbed more than seven boards in a game.
CCSU will play its first postseason game since 2017-18. The Blue Devils have not won in the NEC Tournament since 2010-11 and they will face FDU in the postseason for the first time since March 7, 2004, a 76-73 overtime win.
CCSU has not led in a game since a 5-3 lead at Wagner on Feb. 19 with 15:08 to play in the first half, a span of 115:08.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will play at FDU for the NEC Tournament Opening Round Game on Monday night.