Men's Basketball Wins in Closing Seconds at UMass Lowell

December 16, 2023

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team snapped the country's second-longest homecourt winning streak with a 57-54 win at UMass Lowell on Saturday. The winning margin came on Jordan Jones' three-pointer with three seconds to play.

Jones led four Blue Devils in double-figures with a game-high 15 points. CCSU shot 23-of-61 (.377) overall and was 5-of-18 (.278) from three-point range. Central was 6-of-11 (.545) at the foul line.

Cam Morris III had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for UMass Lowell. The River Hawks shot 20-of-58 (.345) overall and 4-of-19 (.211) from three-point range. UML was 10-of-15 (.667) at the foul line.

The Blue Devils return home to host Northeastern on Tuesday.

GAME INFORMATION

Score: CCSU 57, UMASS LOWELL 54
Records: CCSU (4-6), UML (7-4)
Location: Tsonas Center | Lowell, MA

KEY MOMENTS

The teams opened the game shooting a combined 8-for-30 (.267), while UMass Lowell would hold a narrow, 16-9 lead midway through the opening half. The Blue Devils would rally, holding the River Hawks scoreless for over four minutes, while back-to-back three-pointers by Tre Breland would make it a 19-17 game. After a foul shot by Kellen Amos cut the deficit to one point, a three-pointer and put back by Breland put CCSU ahead and pushed the run to 12-0.
Central Connecticut pushed its lead to 27-19 following a layup by Jordan Jones with 3:34 left in the half. The run extended to 16-0 over 5:38. UMass Lowell would end its scoring drought with a short jumper to cut the CCSU lead to six points and the game would go into halftime with CCSU ahead 31-25.
UMass Lowell would keep Central scoreless for a five-minute span early in the second half, while getting within four points. A three-pointer by Brayden O'Connor would eventually punctuate a 6-0 run that put UML ahead 39-37.
The Blue Devils would recapture the lead with an 8-0 run over a three-minute span. The spurt opened with a layup by Jordan Jones and a dunk by Kellen Amos pushed the lead to 50-42 and forced a timeout with 6:03 to play.
The River Hawks would manage to hang around and ran off seven straight points to get within, 50-49, at the game's final media timeout. The run would extend to 9-2 over a span of 5:08 as the Blue Devils' lead was cut to 52-51 with 58 seconds to play. UML would tie it after hitting 1-of-2 foul shots before the teams traded baskets. Inbounding on their own end with six seconds to play, Jones would hit a three-pointer in the corner for the win.

NUMBER TO KNOW

12 – CCSU recorded 12 steals and had a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

NOTES

CCSU leads the all-time series, 12-5.
The win by the Blue Devils snapped UMass Lowell's 20-game home winning streak – the second longest in the nation.
Jones added five rebounds and two steals. He shot 7-of-14 from the field and his only three-pointer was the game-winner.
Kellen Amos finished 11 points and six rebounds with four assists.
Allan Jeanne-Rose (10 points) and Tre Breland (11 points) scored in double-figures for the fifth and fourth consecutive games, respectively.
Breland finished 3-of-4 on three-pointers.
Joe Ostrowsky had team-highs of eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils return home to host Northeastern on Tuesday.

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