Men's Basketball Drops Contest at Maine on Saturday

December 9, 2023

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team lost to Maine, 69-56, on Saturday in Orono, ME. The Blue Devils were unable to recover after falling behind midway through the second half.

Allan Jeanne-Rose led a trio of Blue Devils in double-figures with 14 points. Jordan Jones and Tre Breland added 12 and 10 points, respectively. CCSU shot 20-of-55 (.364) overall and was 3-of-14 (.214) from three-point range. Central was 13-of-20 (.650) at the foul line.

Peter Filipovity led Maine with 19 points and eight rebounds. The Black Bears shot 23-of-51 (.451) overall and 5-of-14 (.357) on three-pointers. Maine was 18-of-26 (.692) at the foul line.

The Blue Devils are off until they travel to UMass Lowell on December 16.

GAME INFORMATION

Score: CCSU 56, MAINE 69
Records: CCSU (3-6), Maine (8-4)
Location: Memorial Gymnasium | Orono, ME

KEY MOMENTS

The Blue Devils held Maine to one field goal in the opening seven minutes and built a double-digit lead. Jordan Jones opened the game with a three-pointer and after a Black Bears jumper on the next possession, CCSU would score nine unanswered points. A layup by Jones opened the spurt and it was capped off by an Abdul Momoh putback to make it 12-2 at the 12:59 mark.
Maine would cut the CCSU lead mid way through the opening half. A three-pointer would open a streak of six straight points. A foul shot with 8:25 left in the half would make it 17-16.
The Black Bears tied the game at 19-19 and took their first lead of the game at 21-19. A putback by Momoh would give CCSU a 24-23 advantage before Maine ran off nine straight points to build an eight point lead. Back-to-back jumpers by Tre Breland and Allan Jeanne-Rose would pull Central to within, 32-28, at halftime.
A three-pointer by Jones and a layup by Jeanne-Rose to open the second half pushed the CCSU spurt to nine unanswered points and made it 33-32 with 18:55 remaining. Maine would hold the Blue Devils scoreless for three minutes and regained a four-point advantage.
The Black Bears built a double-digit lead with 9:59 to play after scoring six straight points. After Maine went-ahead 53-43 with 9:06 left, Central would be unable to get closer than six points the rest of the way. A layup by Breland made it 62-56 with 1:48 left, but the Black Bears scored the game's final seven points.

NUMBER TO KNOW

1 – Central entered the game averaging 5.5 blocks per game, but rejected just one Maine shot, a season-low

NOTES

Maine improved to 13-7 in the series and has won the past two matchups.
Jeanne-Rose scored in double-figures for the eighth time of the season, including his fourth straight game.
Jone has started the past seven games and scored in double-figures in four straight. He added a career-high five assists.
Breland went 4-of-4 from the field and has scored double-figures in three straight games.
CCSU has scored the game's first points in seven games this season.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils are off until they travel to UMass Lowell on December 16.

Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.