Men's Basketball Falls at Top-Seeded Bryant in NEC Quarterfinals

The Central Connecticut men's basketball had its season end on Wednesday night with a 73-59 setback to top-seeded Bryant in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Smithfield, RI. The Blue Devils were within five points early in the second half before the Bulldogs managed to push the lead to double-figures and advance to the semifinals.

Juniors Nigel Scantlebury and Tre Mitchell led CCSU with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Central shot 22-of-66 (.333) overall and was 9-of-25 (.360) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils went 6-of-6 (1.000) at the foul line.

Bryant's Peter Kiss and Charles Pride, the nation's highest-scoring duo, scored 24 points apiece. The Bulldogs shot 29-of-59 (.492) overall and 7-of-24 (.292) from three-point range. Bryant went 8-of-11 (.727) from the foul line.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT | QUARTERFINALS
Score: #9 CCSU 59, #1 Bryant 73
Records: CCSU (8-24, 5-13 NEC), BRY (20-9, 16-2 NEC)
Location: Chace Center | Smithfield, RI

KEY MOMENTS

• Bryant scored the game's first eight points and would hold CCSU without a field goal for the opening 5:27. Peter Kiss would score 10 straight points on his own to help Bryant build a 13-2 lead. The Blue Devils' slow start at the offensive end would plague them for much of the first half as they started the game just 4-of-23 from the field.
• The Blue Devils would charge back late in the half, holding Bryant scoreless for four minutes and running off 11 straight points. Junior Tre Mitchell would hit his third three-pointer of the half to pull CCSU with 27-22 at the 3:48 mark. Although Bryant would score four straight to momentarily push the lead back to nine points, Central would hang around and freshman Trenton McLaughlin hit a three-pointer just before halftime to pull the Blue Devils within 34-29 at the break.
• Mitchell would hit a floater in the lane to make it a one-possession game early in the second half. Bryant would score five straight to give itself some cushion. The Bulldogs would take control of the contest, forcing a CCSU timeout after a Peter Kiss layup made it 56-40 to cap a 5-0 spurt. The Blue Devils would be unable to get within double-figures the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE

"We got down early and obviously the crowd gave them [Bryant] a lot of energy," said CCSU head coach Patrick Sellers. "We fought back really strong and got it down to five and I thought we did a good job of handling their zone. We've got a young group and we talked about taking a few weeks off and then we'll get back in the gym and work hard. We want to have this type of atmosphere at Central Connecticut and that's our goal."

NUMBER TO KNOW

6 - CCSU went a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line, marking the first game since Feb. 13, 2020 against LIU (3-of-3) that the Blue Devils didn't miss a foul shot.

NOTES

• Bryant leads the all-time sereis, 23-18, and has won five straight in the series.
• The Blue Devils and Bulldogs were meeting in the NEC Tournament for the first time.
• Scantlebury led the Blue Devils in scoring in six of the last seven games of the season.
• Mitchell was 4-of-7 on three-pointers in the game. He scored in double-figures in 12 games on the year.
• Freshman Trenton McLaughlin scored 10 points with a career-high seven rebounds. He had double-digits in both postseason games.
• Freshman Andre Snoddy had eight points and nine rebounds. He led CCSU in rebounding in 19 games this season.
• Central finished the season with 235 three-pointers a team - the second-highest single season total in program history.
• CCSU went 77-of-91 (.846) from the foul line in the last six games.
• CCSU did not lead in the game. The Blue Devils' only lead over the last four games of the season came with 0:07 to play in the win over FDU. took the lead with 0:07 to play - its first lead in a game since 5-3 at Wagner on Feb. 19 with 15:08 to play in the first half, a span of 155:01.