Men's Basketball Season Ends With Setback to Wagner in NEC Semifinals

March 9, 2024

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team had its season end in the Northeast Conference Semifinals with a 66-56 loss to Wagner on Saturday in Detrick Gym. The Blue Devils posted their highest win total since 2006-07 with a 21-10 record to finish the campaign.

Jordan Jones scored a team-high 15 points, while Allan Jeanne-Rose and Jayden Brown each added 10 points. CCSU shot 21-of-58 (.362) overall and 5-of-26 (.192) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 9-of-16 (.563) at the foul line.

Julian Brown scored a game-high 20 points to pace Wagner. The Seahawks were 21-of-54 (.389) overall and 5-of-17 (.294) on three-pointers. Wagner was 19-of-24 (.792) at the foul line.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CCSU 56, WAGNER 66
Records: CCSU (20-11, 13-3 NEC), Wagner (15-15, 7-9 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

CCSU would build its largest lead of the afternoon after a three-pointer by Jeanne-Rose and a layup by Jones made it 7-2 with 17:40 to go in the opening period. Central led 9-8 when Wagner responded with six straight points. Melvin Council Jr. made a driving layup to put the Seahawks up 14-9.
Joe Ostrowsky would come up with a steal and convert a three-point play to interrupt the run, but Seahawks would maintain their lead, extending it to as many as seven in the opening period.
A layup by Jeanne-Rose made it 25-21 with 5:10 to go in the half. Wagner would go almost four minutes without scoring until a three-pointer by Tahron Allen with 1:35 to go and a a Momoh dunk would make it 28-23 at half.
Wagner opened second half with four points to take a quick 32-23 lead. CCSU was limited to one field goal over an eight-minute span across both halves during that stretch until a trifecta by Jones made it 32-26 with 17:58 to play.
CCSU would score seven straight points and cut the deficit to one after a Tre Breland three-pointer with 15 minutes to play. The Blue Devils' defense held Wagner without a field goal for nearly five and a half minutes but continued to trail.
A pair of foul shots by Kellen Amos and a jumper by Brown made it 39-39 with 9:06 to go. The Seahawks endured a stretch of close to 10 minutes with just one field goal until a three-pointer by Julian Brown made it 42-39 with 6:46 to play. CCSU would get within a point, but the Seahawks would outscore the Blue Devils, 11-4, during a pivotal three-minute stretch to go ahead 57-48 with 1:16 to play and CCSU got no closer than five the rest of the way.

NUMBER TO KNOW

3 – The game featured just three lead changes. Central led for just 3:48, while Wagner led for 32:48.

NOTES

Wagner leads the all-time series, 36-23, and is 5-0 against CCSU in the NEC Tournament.
Central lost for the first time as the top seed and is 10-1 all-time as the #1 seed in the NEC Tournament.
Jeanne-Rose became the 41^st player in CCSU program history to reach 1,000 career points when he converted a three-point play with 2:36 to play.
Jones added five rebounds and three assists.
Brown grabbed six rebounds and had two blocked shots.
Ostrowsky led CCSU with seven rebounds. He finished with six points.

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