Krishnan's Trey Lifts Men's Basketball by LIU, 65-62
The Central Connecticut men's basketball used a second half surge before holding off LIU, 65-62, on Thursday night in Northeast Conference action at Detrick Gymnasium. CCSU scored the first seven points of the second half before taking the lead midway through the period. Junior Ian Krishnan hit six three-pointers in the game, including the game-winner with 37 seconds to play to lift the Blue Devils
Krishnan led the Blue Devils with 19 points and was joined in double-figures by junior Tre Mitchell with 10 points. Central shot 23-of-54 (.426) overall and went 9-of-22 (.409) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils were clutch at the foul line, going 10-of-14 (.714) in the game.
Ty Flowers led LIU with a double-double, posting 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Sharks shot 25-of-66 (.379) overall and 6-of-22 (.273) from three-point range. LIU was just 6-of-13 (.462) from the foul line.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 65, LIU 62
Records: CCSU (5-16, 3-6 NEC), LIU (8-11, 5-4)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT
KEY MOMENTS
- The Sharks used a 7-0 run to build an early 13-4 lead. The Blue Devils would end the streak with back-to-back three-pointers by junior Ian Krishnan. LIU responded with an 16-0 run over almost five minutes, including six straight from Tre Flowers, and would go ahead by as much as 29-10 midway through the period.
- The Blue Devils would trail by as much as 19 in the first half before closing the period on an 8-1 run. Krishnan's fourth three-pointer of the period was followed by a putback dunk from sophomore Arian Dehnavi to make it 39-29 at the intermission.
- Central continued its run into the second half scoring the first seven points of the period. A three-pointer by Krishnan was followed by foul shots from freshman Jayden Brown and a jumper by freshman Trenton McLaughlin to make it 39-36 at the 15:43 mark. Following an LIU timeout the Sharks would snap the CCSU run, but a driving layup by freshman by Andre Snoddy would pull the Blue Devils within 41-40. Central would rattle off seven straight points, capped off by a pair of foul shots by Snoddy and a three-pointer by freshman Joe Ostrowsky, to take its first lead of the night at 49-45.
- The Sharks would tie the game on a three-pointer by Ty Flowers with 4:53 to play to make it 55-55. The teams would go back-and-forth down the stretch until Krishnan hit his sixth trey of the game at the top of the key to make it 63-60 with 37 seconds remaining. LIU would trim the lead to one before McLaughlin hit two foul shots with 10 seconds left to make it 65-62. LIU had a chance to tie, but their three-pointer missed short.
NUMBER TO KNOW
14 - The Blue Devils had 14 assists against just 11 turnovers in the game. CCSU has at least 10 assists in five straight games.
NOTES
- LIU leads the all-time series, 30-22, but CCSU snapped a seven-game slide in the series with Thursday's win. The Sharks won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 83-61, on Jan. 15.
- CCSU rallied from a 19-point deficit in the win, matching its largest deficit in a win since a 103-96 win over Sacred Heart on Jan. 27, 2007. CCSU rallied from a 53-34 second half deficit in that game.
- Krishnan finished the game 6-of-8 from the field, all three-point attempts. He has 988 career points and 187 career three-pointers, which ranks third and second among active NEC players, respectively. He ranks 8th on the CCSU career three-pointer chart.
- CCSU outscored LIU, 36-23, in the second half and shot 50 percent from the field, while limiting LIU to 27.8 percent from the field in the second half.
- Mitchell posted his sixth double-digit scoring outing of the season. He also had a team-high two blocked shots and two steams, while adding five rebounds in 27 minutes.
- Freshman Jayden Brown finished with nine points and five rebounds, while Snoddy had six points, nine rebounds and four assists.
- In the past two games, CCSU is shooting 15-of-36 (.417) from three-point range as a team.
UP NEXT
The Blue Devils travel to FDU on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
