Seymour Posts Career Highs; Men's Basketball Falls at LIU Brooklyn
Blue Devils close out the season at home Saturday.
Sophomore Kevin Seymour scored a career-high 22 points and dished out nine assists and senior Brandon Peel collected his 10th straight double-double, but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell at LIU Brooklyn, 80-74, on Thursday night.
Central hit a season-high 13 three-pointers, including five by Seymour, but the Blackbirds led throughout. CCSU slips to 4-24 overall and 3-14 in the Northeast Conference, while LIU improves to 15-13 overall and 9-8 in league play.
Seymour finished with a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Peel added 16 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman Austin Nehls added 12 points and junior JJ Cratit added 10 points.
LIU Brooklyn got off to a fast start with six straight points from Joel Hernandez to open the second half and push its lead to double-figures. His layup with 17:51 to play capped a 13-0 run spanning both halves and made it 47-32.
Central used three-point shooting to chip away at the deficit. Seymour scored eight straight for the Blue Devils at one point and his trifecta with 8:41 to play got CCSU within 64-60.
Iverson Fleming scored eight straight for LIU, including six in a row after Seymour's trey to push the Blackbirds lead to 68-60. CCSU would manage to cut the deficit to a field goal after a three-pointer by Nehls made it 74-71 with 50 seconds to play, but the Blackbirds would hit foul shots down the stretch to clinch the win.
The Blackbirds opened the game by scoring the first four points and led throughout the first half. Senior Brandon Peel powered the Central offense in the early going, accounting for the first six points. The Blue Devils managed to stay within striking distance much of the period by virtue of shooting 6-of-10 from three-point range in the opening period.
A layup by Aakim Saintil gave LIU a 32-24 lead with 3:39 left in the half, before a Peel layup and three-pointer by junior Khalen Cumberlander opened an 8-2 spurt for CCSU. A three-pointer by Nehls got Central within, 34-32, before the Blackbirds scored the final seven points of the period and took a 41-32 lead at the break.
Central finished the game shooting 28-of-62 (45.2 percent) overall and 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from three-point range. The Blue Devils also finished with 20 assists.
Martin Hermannsson led four Blackbirds in double-figures with 20 points. He also had six assists without a turnover. LIU shot 34-of-69 (49.3 percent) overall, but was just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) on three-pointers. The Blackbirds had 17 assists to just five turnovers.
Central Connecticut closes out the season at home against Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, Feb. 27, in head coach Howie Dickenman's final game in charge of the Blue Devils. Tickets can be purchased at CCSUTickets.com or at the box office upon entry. Admission for all CCSU students, faculty and staff is free of charge with a valid Blue Chip card.
