Men's Hoop Falls by 12 at LIU Brooklyn

Senior Faronte Drakeford recorded his third double-double of the season but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell to 3-19 overall and 1-8 in Northeast Conference play with a 67-55 loss on the road at LIU Brooklyn on Thursday night.  The Blackbirds improve to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in league play with the win.  They also sweep the season series from the Blue Devils.

Drakeford led the Blue Devils matching his season-high with 20 points while adding 11 rebounds.  He was 7-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line in the loss.  Sophomore Khalen Cumberlander added 11 points for the Blue Devils.  He hit the only two threes of the game for the Blue Devils, both coming in the first half.

Central returns to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the road at Wagner.  The Blue Devils defeated the Seahawks 53-50 on Saturday night in New Britain.

Blue Devils led 18-14 after the second three of the game from Cumberlander with 8:50 on the clock.  LIU Brooklyn scored the next 18 points as the Blue Devils went over six minutes without a basket.  The Blackbirds led 32-18 with 2:59 to play.

The Blue Devils answered with a quick 6-0 spurt to cut the LIU lead to 32-24 with 1:19 to play before halftime. 

Central trailed 34-24 at halftime despite shooting 9-of-17 from the field, good for 52.9 percent.  They were 2-of-3 from three but turned the ball over 15 times before the break.  Those 15 turnovers led to 12 LIU points.

The Blue Devils cut the lead to six to open the second half, 36-30, but the Blackbirds answered again with an 8-1 run to push the lead to 13, 44-31, with 15:13 left in the second half. 

Central cut the Blackbird lead to 44-34, but LIU answered with six straight points to build the lead to 50-34 with 11:51 to play.  Central was just 3-of-9 from the field to start the half and turned the ball over three more times.  LIU hit three threes in the first eight minutes of the half to push the lead to 16.

The Blackbirds answered another mini-rally by the Blue Devils and led 56-40 with 9:33 left.  Central had cut the lead to 12 on four quick points from Drakeford, but the Blackbirds answered again with a pair of quick buckets on the other end of the floor.

Central made another run, fueled by Drakeford and a jumper from freshman Kevin Seymour, and cut the lead to 56-46 with 7:40 on the clock.  LIU answered one final time in the half and took a 65-52 lead with 3:23 to play.  Gerrell Martin hit his fifth three of the game and fourth of the half to build the 13-point advantage.

Central is back in action on Saturday at Wagner beginning at 4 p.m.