Men's Basketball Rallies Past Coppin State in Overtime
Central will travel to face Cleveland State on Friday, Nov. 24.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team erased a double-digit second half deficit to defeat Coppin State, 74-71, in overtime on Tuesday night at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils had four players in double-figures and junior Tyler Kohl had a double-double.
CCSU won its second straight to improve to 2-3 on the season, while Coppin State fell to 0-6.
Kohl finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, including 16 points after halftime. Sophomore Joe Hugley added a career-high 15 points, while junior Deion Bute chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior Mustafa Jones had 10 points and nine rebounds.
CCSU returns to action on Friday, Nov. 24, at Cleveland State.
Coppin State would take the largest lead of the night early in the first half. Keandre Fair hit a three-pointer to open a 13-0 run for the Eagles. Coppin State would close the run with a layup by Fair on the fastbreak to push its lead to 18-5 at the 13:31 mark.
Central would come back with a run of its own to trim the deficit to five points. Junior Tyler Kohl hit a three-pointer to start a run of eight unanswered points. A three-point play by junior Deion Bute would get CCSU back to within, 18-13.
The Blue Devils would eventually regain the lead at 24-23 on a layup by senior Mustafa Jones. The basket closed a spurt that saw Central outscore Coppin St., 19-5, over a span of 7:43.
Coppin State would close the half scoring six straight points. Lucian Brownlee's jumper would make it 31-26 at the intermission.
Kohl hit a three-pointer on CCSU's opening possession of the second half to make it 31-29, but the Eagles would push the lead to double-figures with eight unanswered points. Karonn Davis scored six straight and a layup by Tre Thomas made it 39-29 with 18:16 to play.
The Blue Devils would claw back to take a lead with just under three minutes to play. Bute had two baskets as part of five unanswered points for Central that would open a spurt that the Blue Devils outscored the Eagles, 15-4. Junior Austin Nehls, Kohl and junior Eric Bowles would hit consecutive layups to get Central within 58-57 with 3:42 to play.
The Blue Devils would take the lead on the next possession when Kohl fed Jones underneath for a dunk to make it 59-58 with 2:56 to go.
The Eagles would retake the lead with a foul shot each from Chad Andrews-Fulton and Karonn Davis to go ahead 60-59 with 1:58 to play.
A foul shot by Kohl and layup by senior Shakaris Laney would give Central a 62-60 lead, but the Eagles would tie it on a layup by Davis with :07 to play. Nehls' three-point shot at the buzzer sput out to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Dejuan Clayton would hit a three-pointer to put Coppin State ahead 71-70 with 1:52 to go. Kohls would respond with a pair of foul shots to give Central a 72-71 lead with 0:50 left. Nehls would hit a pair of foul shots with 14.9 seconds to play to push the lead to 74-71.
The Blue Devils shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) overall, but would use a 24-4 advantage on second-chance points. Central would hold a 44-29 rebounding edge.
Coppin State was led by Davis' 14 points, while Fair added 11. The Eagles shot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field.
Central will travel to face Cleveland State on Friday, Nov. 24.
