Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross for New Britain Day

The men's basketball team will host Holy Cross on Saturday, for Celebrate New Britain Day

December 1, 2023

Central Connecticut State will host 'Celebrate New Britain Day' at Saturday's men's basketball game versus Holy Cross. The game will tip-off at 1:00 pm at Detrick Gym. All residents of New Britain will be admitted free to the game, by showing a valid ID upon entrance to Kaiser Hall.

"We are proud of being a part of the New Britain community," said Mike Ericksen, Associate Director of Athletics, "and we are excited to be able to offer this small token of our appreciation for the resident's support. We look forward to having performances from local New Britain organizations on Saturday and hope all enjoy the game."

The New Britain High School cheerleaders and the New Britain Junior Canes will join the CCSU Cheer team for performances.

Saturday is also the debut of the Jersey Mike's Halfcourt shot, where one lucky fan will have the opportunity to make a halfcourt shot to win a Jersey Mike's sandwich a day for a year, from the Fenn Road Jersey Mike's. In addition, the first 50 fans in attendance will receive a CCSU t-shirt, in addition to a t-shirt toss during the game.

Tickets for men's basketball games can be purchased online by clicking here or by visiting CCSUBlueDevils.com/Tickets2023 on your mobile device.

The Blue Devils and Crusaders are meeting for the fifth time. Holy Cross is 3-1 against CCSU, all-time.

OPENING NOTES
•    Central Connecticut welcomes Holy Cross to Detrick Gymnasium on Saturday.
•    Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater and has improved the team's win total over the previous season in each campaign.
•    The Blue Devils and Crusaders are meeting for the third straight season, but just the fifth time overall.
•    CCSU will play its next three games on the road before returning home to host Northeastern on Dec. 19.

WITH A CCSU WIN ...
•    Central would collect its second straight win.
•    The Blue Devils would win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 11 & 16, 2023. CCSU had a 4-game win streak from Feb. 8-16, 2023.
•    Central would defeat its second straight Patriot League opponent.

WIN JERSEY MIKE'S FOR A YEAR HALFCOURT SHOT
•    CCSU athletics and Jersey Mike's announced on Nov. 27 that one contestant at select games will be chosen to attempt a halfcourt shot. If the contestant is successful, they will win a FREE Jersey Mike's sub, from the Fenn Road location, for a YEAR!
•    Tickets for men's basketball games can be purchased online by visiting CCSUBlueDevils.com/Tickets2023.
•    The following 10 games have been selected:
    - Men's Basketball: Dec. 2, Dec. 19, Jan. 19, Feb. 8, Feb. 10
    - Women's Basketball: Dec. 6, Dec. 18, Jan. 21, Feb. 15, March 7

NOTABLES
•    The Blue Devils lead the Northeast Conference with 5.5 blocked shots per game. Abdul Momoh (1.5) and Jayden Brown (1.5) rank 4th in the NEC, while Kellen Amos (1.2) ranks 6th in blocks per game.
•    Central had 8 rejections at Army and against Framingham State, matching its season-high total from the 2022-23 season.
•    The Blue Devils recorded 7 blocked shots in the opener at URI, including three in the opening four minutes.
•    CCSU rejected 122 shots as a team in 2022-23, the 7th best single-season mark in program history.

•    Jordan Jones has started the past 4 games. He made his first start vs. Framingham State, scoring 13 points with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
•    The guard scored 15 points at Army with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
•    He leads the Blue Devils with 11 steals, averaging 1.8 per game.
•    In 2022-23, he ranked 3rd nationally in the D-2 ranks in steals (2.59) and 6th in assists (6.5) at Coker (SC) University.

•    Central is among the best free-throw shooting teams in the Northeast Conference at 70.4%.
•    CCSU has made at least 75% at the line in each of the past 3 games.
•    The Blue Devils have made 70% of their foul shots in the final 5:00 of games, but have taken just 10 total free throws in that timeframe, including just 2 foul shots in the final minute of play.