Men's Basketball Held Off at Saint Francis U, 62-59

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team fell in a close game at Saint Francis U on Saturday, 62-59 in Northeast Conference actDeGol Arena. Neither team led by more than seven points in the game, which had 10 lead changes and six ties. The Blue Devils would get within three points in the second half, but the Red Flash would manage to maintain the lead and hold on for the win.

Central is 3-10 overall and 3-7 in the Northeast Conference, while Saint Francis U is now 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the NEC.

CCSU fell behind by seven to open the game, but would recover to take a lead in the first half. The Red Flash would take the lead on a three-pointer just before halftime and were able to hold the lead the rest of the way.

Junior Karrington Wallace led CCSU with 11 points, while sophomore Greg Outlaw added 10 points. Senior Stephane Ayangma finished with nine points and five rebounds off the bench. Central shot 21-of-48 (.438) from the field, but was just 3-of-15 (.200) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 14-of-20 (.700) from the free throw line.

Ramiir Dixon-Conover scored a game-high 14 points to lead three Red Flash in double-figures. SFU was 22-of-55 (.400) from the field overall and 6-of-20 (.300) from the three-point line. The Red Flash were just 12-of-21 (.571) at the foul line, but held a 39-29 edge in rebounding.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 59, Saint Francis U 62
Records: CCSU (3-9, 3-6 NEC), SFU (4-9, 3-6 NEC)
Location: DeGol Arena | Loretto, PA

KEY MOMENTS

• The Red Flash scored the first seven points of the game and held CCSU scoreless for the first 4:00 until a jumper by junior Ian Krishnan. The Blue Devils would score eight straight after a drive by senior Stephane Ayangma. SFU was held scoreless for over six minutes during the CCSU run.
• The teams would trade eight leads in the opening period, which also featured six tied scores. The Red Flash took a three-point lead into halftime after a trifecta from Ramiir Dixon-Conover just before the break.
• The Red Flash would build a 42-36 lead early in the second half on the heels of a 5-1 run. The Red Flash would hit 6-of-7 shots in the early minutes of the second half to build their largest lead since the opening minutes.
• Back-to-back slams by junior Karrington Wallace would get CCSU within, 54-51 with 5:01 to play. That would be as close as the Blue Devils could get as SFU pushed the lead back to five on the next possession and would keep the Blue Devils from taking the lead.

QUOTABLE

"We could have come down and gotten easy baskets," said head coach Donyell Marshall on the difference in the game. "But we were trying to make long passes, putting too much air underneath it, or we'd get in the lane and try to do something fancy instead of just getting a good shot."

NUMBER TO KNOW

3 - CCSU was just 3-of-15 on three-pointers in the game. Before Ayangma's three-pointer to close out the game's scoring, only Outlaw (2-4) had made a three-pointer for Central. The rest of the team was 0-for-10 before Ayangma's make.

NOTES

• Saint Francis leads the all-time series, 24-22, and has won six straight in the series.
• Outlaw has scored in double-figures in a team-high nine games. He grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
• Wallace had his fifth double-digit scoring game. He had two dunks and leads the team with nine on the year.
• Jamir Reed has grabbed at least five rebounds in six of the last seven games.
• The CCSU bench accounted for 28 points. CCSU reserves are contributing 28.4 points per game.

UP NEXT

The teams face off again on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. The game streams live and for free on NECFrontRow.com.