Men's Basketball Falls to LIU Brooklyn at Home Saturday
Central will host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, Jan. 31.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped an 84-71 Northeast Conference contest to LIU Brooklyn on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium. Extended scoring runs on either side of halftime by the Blackbirds built an insurmountable margin that the Blue Devils could not erase. CCSU falls to 8-13 overall and 2-6 in league play with the loss.
Junior Joe Hugley scored a team-high 16 points to lead four Blue Devils in double-figures. He also grabbed five rebounds. Senior Tyler Kohl had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while senior Deion Bute went 6-of-6 from the floor and had 14 points with seven rebounds. Freshman Ian Krishnan scored 10 points.
Central shot 27-of-66 (.409) from the field and was 5-of-21 (.238) from the three-point arc. CCSU went 12-of-12 at the foul line.
Central will be home at Detrick Gymnasium to host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, Jan. 31.
The Blackbirds opened the game making five of its first eight shots, including two early three-pointers from Ty Flowers. A three-point play by Raiquan Clark gave LIU an early 13-8 lead just 4:28 into the game.
Senior Deion Bute would hit his first four shots to carry the CCSU offense in the early going, but LIU limited the Blue Devils to 1-of-5 shooting in a stretch, while going on a 9-2 run. A three-pointer by Raul Frias helped the Blackbirds build a 22-12 lead with 12:17 to go in the half.
The Blue Devils would trim the deficit to 23-19 midway through the half. A 7-1 run by Central was capped by a jumper by sophomore Kashaun Hicks.
LIU responded with six straight points to quickly push the lead back to double-figures. A four-point play by Frias was followed by a Clark layup to make it 29-19 with 9:16 to go in the half.
Flowers hit his third three-pointer of the half with 4:50 to go in the period and forced a CCSU timeout. Four straight points by Jashaun Agosto extended the LIU run to seven unanswered points and opened the lead to 41-26.
A pair of foul shots from Kohl and a layup from freshman Karrington Wallace ended the spurt. Wallace's layup cut the CCSU deficit to 41-30 with 3:00 to go in the half and forced an LIU timeout.
LIU went on a 11-0 run over a nearly three-minute span to push the lead to 52-30 just before halftime. A jumper by freshman Michael Underwood would make it 52-32 at halftime.
Central was 13-of-32 (.406) from the field and 1-of-6 (.167) from the three-point arc in the opening half. LIU connected on 18-of-37 (.486) from the field and hit seven three-pointers, while posting a 12-0 margin in points off turnovers and an 18-5 advantage in fast break points in the first half.
Bute would make his first two shots of the second period, but Central was unable to cut into the LIU lead. A three-point play by Julius van Sauers was answered by a three-pointer from junior Jamir Coleman to make the score 59-41 just under four minutes into the half.
The Blackbirds would go on a 13-1 spurt over a four-minute span and a three-pointer by Frias extended the LIU lead to 66-42 with 13:50 remaining. The run would include nine unanswered points and a Flowers jumper with 12:46 to play expanded the margin to 72-42.
The Blue Devils would roll off nine unanswered points to force LIU to call timeout. Senior Tyler Kohl opened the spurt with a layup, followed by five straight from junior Joe Hugley. A layup by Kohl with 8:35 to play cut the LIU lead to 72-51.
Central would get within 15 points with just under three minutes to play after a three-point play by Hugley. A three-pointer by freshman Ian Krishnan with 2:45 to play cut the deficit to 81-69. The Blue Devils would get no closer as LIU went 3-of-4 at the foul line down the stretch and Hugley hit a pair of foul shots to close out the game's scoring.
Clark had 21 points and six rebounds to lead LIU. Frias added 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. LIU went 30-of-62 (.484) from the floor and was 8-of-26 (.308) from the arc. The Blackbirds had a 38-35 edge on the glass and turned 16 CCSU turnovers into a 27-12 edge in points off turnovers.
The Blue Devils host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday night.