Kohl Scores 33; Men's Basketball Outlasts Maine, 93-90, in 2OT

Senior Tyler Kohl scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Central Connecticut men's basketball team to a 93-90 win over Maine in double-overtime on Saturday at the  Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, ME. Kohl paced four Blue Devils in double-figures to overshadow a pair of buzzer-beaters by the Black Bears that extended the game. The win improved Central to 6-6 on the season overall.

Kohl was efficient in scoring his 33 points, going 8-of-12 from the field and hitting 5-of-8 three-pointers. He converted 12-of-13 foul shots, including 6-of-6 in overtime. He added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Freshman Ian Krishnan added 17 points with four rebounds and three assists. Senior Deion Bute finished with 13 points on 3-of-3 field goals and 7-of-8 foul shooting. Junior Jamir Coleman added his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

Junior Tyson Batiste chipped in nine points with six assists, against just one turnover, and junior Joe Hugley had seven points off the bench.

Central returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 29, when it faces Oregon State in the final non-conference game of the season.

Both teams started the game shooting well as CCSU hit 4-of-6 and Maine made 5-of-6 to start the game. Consecutive three-pointers by freshman Ian Krishnan gave Central a 13-10 lead just over five minutes into the game.

The Blue Devils opened the game hitting 4-of-8 from three-point range, while Maine opened the game 0-of-4 from the arc. Senior Tyler Kohl hit his first three treys, including back-to-back attempts, to give CCSU a 19-14 lead.

A three-pointer by Kohl would give CCSU its biggest lead at 24-17 before Maine responded with a quick 5-0 run. Kohl would stem the run with a pair of foul shots.

Kohl would score eight straight for the Blue Devils and a short baseline jumper pushed the CCSU lead to 29-25 with 4:49 left in the period. Three straight foul shots by Krishnan and freshman Karrington Wallace would make it 32-27 before the Black Bears scored the final five points of the period to tie the game at the intermission.

Central would go scoreless over the final 2:06 of the period and hit just 1-of-9 from the field in the final five minutes in the half. CCSU shot 8-of-22 (.364) from the field in the opening half, but was 6-of-14 (.429) from the arc. Kohl would have 17 points in the half, hitting 5-of-6 shots and 4-of-5 from the arc.

The Blue Devils held the Black Bears scoreless for the opening 3:11 of the second half, but could only build a four-point lead at 36-32. Kohl would convert a three-point play followed by a dunk from Wallace to give CCSU a 41-39 lead with 15:42 to play.

Central held Maine to 1-of-5 during a stretch it outscored the hosts 6-1. A foul shot from senior Deion Bute would push the CCSU lead to 49-43 with 11:33 to play.

The Blue Devils would hit 4-of-5 shots, including back-to-back layups by junior Joe Hugley to take a 53-45 lead with 9:41 to play.

Maine would then hold Central to a 1-of-4 shooting stretch and would hit 4-of-5 on its own end to trim the CCSU leads to 55-52 after back-to-back buckets by Andrew Fleming.

Central came back with a 7-0 run to take its largest lead at 62-53 after a Bute layup. The Black Bears responded with six unanswered points to cut the CCSU lead to 62-59 with 3:33 to play. 

The Blue Devils would push the lead to 69-63 with 2:09 to play after a three-pointer by Coleman, but Isaiah White would score five unanswered for Maine to make it a one-point game with 1:17 to play. 

Kohl would hit a pair of foul shots to push the CCSU lead to 73-70 with five seconds left. Maine would set up a final play after advancing pas halfcourt and get the ball to Sergio El Darwich who hit a game-tying three-pointer as time expired to force overtime. 

In the extra period, the teams owuld go back-and-forth until Kohl converted four straight foul shots with 42 seconds to play. His last foul shot put CCSU ahead 84-81 with 22 seconds to play. The Black Bears again advanced over halfcourt and set up a final play with :07 to play. Again, El Darwich got the ball sank a three-pointer with :01 to play and send the game to double-overtime.

The teams traded leads in the second overtime until Kohl hit a jumper with 26 seconds left to give CCSU a 91-89 lead. After El Darwich went 1-of-2 at the foul line, Coleman would hit a pair of foul shots to give Central a three-point lead. The Black Bears had another chance to tie the game, but White's three-pointer was off the mark and freshman Thai Segwai got the rebound to seal the CCSU win.

The Blue Devils finished the game shooting 26-of-59 (.441) from the field and were 10-of-30 (.333) from three-point range. Central converted 31-of-35 (.886) at the foul line, including 9-of-9 in overtime.

El Darwich led Maine with 26 points and White had 22 points. The Black Bears were 32-of-72 (.444) from the field and 17-of-25 (.680) from the foul line. The Black Bears held a 42-37 rebounding advantage.

The win was the first double-overtime victory for CCSU since a 94-91 over Saint Francis U on Feb. 28, 2013. 

The Blue Devils close out the non-conference schedule on Dec. 29 with a matchup at Oregon State.