Men's Basketball Moves on to NEC Semifinals with Win over Saint Francis U

March 6, 2024

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team advanced to the Northeast Conference Semifinals with a 71-62 win over Saint Francis U on Thursday night in Detrick Gym. The top-seeded Blue Devils held off a second half charge by the Red Flash and advance to face sixth-seeded Wagner on.

The Blue Devils will host Wagner in the NEC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 p.m. An allotment of 500 tickets for CCSU students will be available for pickup in the Kaiser Hall lobby from 2-3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets to the general public will be available at Noon on Thursday at CCSUBlueDevils.com/Tickets2023.

Allan Jeanne-Rose scored a career-high 28 points and Jordan Jones added 18 points. CCSU shot 24-of-48 (.500) overall and 7-of-16 (.438) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 16-of-20 (.800) at the foul line.

Eli Wilborn led Saint Francis U with 19 points. The Red Flash shot 24-of-50 (.480) overall and 9-of-20 (.450) on three-pointers. SFU was 5-of-9 (.556) at the foul line.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CCSU 71, SAINT FRANCIS U 62
Records: CCSU (20-10, 13-3 NEC), SFU (8-22, 3-13 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

Allan Jeanne-Rose had two three-pointers in the opening six minutes and he put back an offensive rebound to put CCSU ahead, 15-8. Jeanne-Rose would hit his three-pointer of the half to make it an 11-point game midway through the period.
A quick five point run by SFU capped with a three-pointer by Carlos Lopez made it 30-29 with 3:06 to go in the half. The Blue Devils would get buckets by Jordan Jones and Jeanne-Rose to push the lead back to five points before a Lopez three made it 34-32 at halftime.
SFU tied the score at 34 on the first possession of the second half before falling behind by five again. The Red Flash would recover with a 7-0 run to take its first lead. A three by Aidan Harris started the spurt before an Eli Wilborn layup made it 44-42 with 13:26 to go.
The Red Flash would build its largest lead of the game after a layup by Aaron Talbert pushed it to 54-46 with 9:37 remaining.
The Blue Devils came back with a eight straight points. Jeanne-Rose opened the spurt with a three-point play and was followed by a Joe Ostrowsky three-pointer to make it 57-55. Jones would tie the game with a layup before putting CCSU ahead 60-59 with a three-pointer.
After the teams traded the lead, a jumper by Jones would give the Blue Devils the lead for good. The Blue Devils would make 9-of-10 at the foul line down the stretch.

NUMBER TO KNOW

10 - The Blue Devils won their 10th straight game as the top seed in the NEC Tournament.

NOTES

SFU leads the all-time series, 28-27, but CCSU won all three meetings this season. The teams are 1-1 in postseason play.
Central is 10-0 all-time as the #1 seed in the NEC Tournament.
The Blue Devils advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2010-11.
Jeanne-Rose was 10-of-11 from the field and 3-of-3 on three-pointers. He added five rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils host Wagner on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the NEC Tournament Semifinals.

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