Men's Basketball Falls at Home to Mount St. Mary's Thursday
Central is home against Sacred Heart on Saturday.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell to Mount St. Mary's in Northeast Conference action on Thursday, 79-66, at Detrick Gymnasium. The Mountaineers used a 20-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and did not trail over the final 35 minutes. Junior Jamir Coleman had a double-double to pace four Blue Devils in double-figures.
CCSU slips to 11-17 overall and 5-10 in the NEC with the loss.
Coleman finished with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Joe Hugley added 17 points, while senior Deion Bute had 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior Tyson Batiste chipped in 10 points. CCSU shot 25-of-60 (.417) for the game, but was just 3-of-21 (.143) from the three-point arc. CCSU went 13-of-16 (.813) at the foul line and held a 37-31 edge on the glass, but committed 16 turnovers.
The Blue Devils are home to face Sacred Heart on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Central built an early eight-point lead with a spurt of five straight points in the early going of the first half. A jumper by junior Joe Hugley and a three-pointer by classmate Tyson Batiste made it 18-10 with 12:06 to go in the opening period.
CCSU took its largest lead of the opening half with a spurt of five straight points midway through the first half. Senior Deion Bute converted a layup before Hugley hit a three-pointer to make it 23-14 with 10:12 to go in the period.
The Mountaineers would take the lead with a late run in the half. A Dee Barnes three-pointer at the 7:00 mark would spark a spurt of 20 unanswered points. Damian Chong Qui hit back-to-back trifectas before a Jalen Gibbs layup made it 33-27 with 4:33 to go in the half. A pair of foul shots by Gibbs extended the Mountaineers' lead to double-figures.
A Bute free throw with 1:06 to go in the half would end CCSU's scoreless drought. Freshman Karrington Wallace converted an up-and-under layup to end a period of over five minutes without a field goal for Central. Hugley made three foul shots just before halftime to make it 41-33 at the intermission.
CCSU shot 12-of-26 (.462) in the opening half and held a 20-11 rebounding edge, but was hampered by 12 turnovers.
Mount St. Mary's held Central to just 2-of-7 shooting to begin the second half. A three-pointer by Vado Morse with 16:13 to play put the Mountaineers ahead 51-37.
The Mount lead would grow to as much as 15 before Central ran off seven straight points. Consecutive layups by Bute would get Central within 56-48 with 11:03 to play.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Gibbs would end the CCSU run and push the lead back to 62-48.
A foul shot by sophomore Kashaun Hicks and five straight points by junior Jamir Coleman cut the CCSU deficit to six points. A three-point play by Coleman with 4:28 to play made it 67-61.
That would be as close as Central would get. The Mountaineers pushed the lead back to double-digits with a 9-1 run and led 76--62 before freshman Thai Segwai hit a runner in the paint and freshman Ian Krishnan hit a jumper. The Mount got a pair of foul shots to close out the scoring.
Gibbs led four Mountaineers in double-digits with 20 points. The Mount shot 26-of-56 (.464) for the game and was 8-of-22 (.364) from the arc.
Central hosts Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
