Men's Basketball Pulls Away in Win Over LIU

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team ran away in the second half for a 78-59 win over LIU in Northeast Conference action on Thursday night in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils had four players score in double-figures and shot 62 percent from the field after halftime to pull away.

Andre Snoddy had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jay Rodgers led the Blue Devils with 15 points. Jayden Brown chipped in 11 points and Nigel Scantlebury had 10 points. CCSU shot 31-of-64 (.484) from the field overall and 10-of-22 (.455) from three-point range. Central was 6-of-8 (.667) from the foul line.

The Sharks were led by Marko Maletic with 15 points. LIU shot 21-of-53 (.396) overall and 5-of-19 (.263) from the arc. The Sharks were 12-of-15 (.800) from the foul line.

The Blue Devils will travel to Stonehill on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. contest.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 78, LIU 59
Records: CCSU (4-13, 2-1 NEC), LIU (2-13,  0-3  NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• For the second game in a row, CCSU got off to a fast start with Kellen Amos had a pair of lay ins to spark an 8-0 start just 1:35 into the contest. The Blue Devils would open the game shooting 6-of-9 from the field and built a 13-6  before the first media timeout.
• Central would endure a stretch of shooting 3-of-19 from the field, while LIU would outscore the Blue Devils, 13-5 over a span of 6:25. The Sharks would take their first lead of the night at 24-23 following a putback by Cheikh Ndiaye. CCSU would bounce back with eight unanswered points to regain the lead and held LIU to one field goal over the final 5:16 of the half to go ahead 34-29 at the intermission.
• LIU would cut the deficit to two points early in the second half before five quick points from Rodgers pushed the lead back to 51-34. Brown would score seven straight points for CCSU in a two-minute span and a three-pointer by Tre Breland would push the lead to 53-43 with 11:49 to play.
• The Blue Devils defense would hold the Sharks to just one field goal over a nearly eight-minute span during a 21-3 run capped off by a Davonte Sweatman layup with 7:40 to play that made it 65-46. The lead would grow to as much as 69-48 and LIU was unable to get closer than 16 points in the final five minutes.

QUOTABLE

"All summer we worked on moving the ball and sharing the ball and we thought we had some good stuff put in [the offense], but it [the ball] stuck," said head coach Patrick Sellers. "So we went back old school and got a play that gets us moving and cutting. So now the ball is changing sides of the floor and we don't have the ball sticking as much."

NUMBER TO KNOW

6 – Central Connecticut committed a season-low six turnovers, while picking up 18 assists in the game.

NOTES

• LIU leads the all-time series, 30-23, but CCSU has won the last two meetings.
• Snoddy posted his 7^th career double-double. He was 6-of-9 from the field and had two assists (0 turnovers) and a blocked shot in 33 minutes.
• Rodgers has scored double-figures in eight of the past nine games.
• Scantlebury chipped in seven assists with just one turnover and three steals in the game. He passed 250 career assists in the game.
• Brown was 5-of-7 from the field and played 11 minutes off the bench.
• Central had a season-best 3-to-1 assist-turnover ratio.
• Central was 18-of-29 (.621) from the field and 5-of-7 (.714) on three-pointers in the second half.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will travel to Stonehill on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. contest.