Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short at Merrimack

February 3, 2024

The Central Connecticut men's basketball saw its four-game win streak come to an end with a 71-68 setback at Merrimack in Northeast Conference action in North Andover, MA on Satuday. The Blue Devils sliced a 14-point second half deficit to just two with 27 seconds remaining by the Warriors would manage to hang on in a matchup of the league's top two teams.

All five starters were in double-figures for the Blue Devils, led by Allan Jeanne-Rose who had 23 points. As a team, CCSU shot 26-of-54 (.481) overall and 5-of-19 (.263) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 11-of-15 (.733) at the foul line.

Jordan Derkack scored 22 points to lead four Warriors in double-figures. Merrimack shot 25-of-44 (.568) overall and 10-of-21 (.476) on three-pointers. The Warriors were 11-of-19 (.579) at the foul line.

The Blue Devils host Sacred Heart for a "Blue Out" game on Thursday.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CCSU 68, Merrimack 71
Records: CCSU (13-9, 7-2 NEC), MC ( 13-10,7-2 NEC
Location: Lawler Arena | North Andover, MA

KEY MOMENTS

Central would hold its largest lead of the game in the early going after a three-pointer by Tre Breland made it 9-6 at the 16:57 mark. The lead would change five times in the next four minutes until Merrimack went ahead 18-15 at 12:12.
Kellen Amos would tie the game at 23-23 with 8:45 left in the opening half. The Warriors would respond by scoring nine straight points and going ahead 32-23 on a Derkack basket with 6:35 to go in the half.
The Blue Devils would hold Merrimack scoreless for nearly four minutes and regained the lead. Jordan Jones would open a 10-0 run by scoring five straight points. Jeanne-Rose capped the run with a layup to make it 33-32 and the teams would trade leads before three-pointers by Merrimack's Jordan McCoy and Devon Savage made it 41-36 at halftime.
Savage would hit back-to-back three-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half and Merrimack would take its largest lead at 55-41 with 14:44 remaining.
The Blue Devils trailed by 10 points with 4:16 to play before mounting a late charge. A layup by Jones was followed by two foul shots and a putback by Jeanne-Rose to cut the deficit to 68-64 with 57 seconds to play. After a pair of Merrimack foul shots, Jeanne-Rose would make a pair of foul shots and a steal by Kamos led to two free throws by Jones to make it 70-68 with 27 seconds left. A foul shot would make a three-point game and the Blue Devils' chance to tie was off the mark.

NUMBER TO KNOW

17 – Both teams committed 17 turnovers in the game which led to 18 points off turnovers for each side.

NOTES

The teams split the season series, each side winning on its home court. CCSU leads the all-time series, 15-12.
Jeanne-Rose posted his seventh 20-point game of the season on 9-of-14 shooting. He added six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Tre Breland added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Jordan Jones finished with 11 points, seven assists and four steals. He has five or more assists in four straight games.
Jayden Brown had 10 points, seven rebounds and Kellen Amos added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The game had 10 lead changes in the first half.
CCSU had its nation-leading six-game road win streak come to an end.
The teams are tied atop the conference standings at 7-2 with seven games remaining in the regular season.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils host Sacred Heart for a "Blue Out" game on Thursday.

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