Men's Basketball Falls to Quinnipiac in Closing Seconds

The Central Connecticut men's basketball had a shot to win at the buzzer miss and lost to Quinnipiac, 72-70, in its home-opener on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT. The Bobcats broke a tie game with a three-pointer with 33 seconds to play and managed to hold off the Blue Devils comeback attempt.

Andre Snoddy posted his fifth career double-double and led four Blue Devils in double-figure scoring in the game. Snoddy had 17 points, while Nigel Scantlebury (16), Davonte Sweatman (15) and Kellen Amos (13) also posted double-digits. CCSU shot 23-of-63 (.365) from the field and 8-of-27 (.296) from three-point range. CCSU went 16-of-21 (.762) at the foul line.

Matt Balanc led three Bobcats in double-figures with 17 points. QU shot 26-of-57 (..456) overall from the field and was 9-of-25 (.360) from three-point range. Quinnipiac was 11-of-26 (.423) from the foul line.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Manhattan for a 7:00 p.m. contest.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 70, Quinnipiac 72
Records: CCSU (0-2), Quinnipiac (3-0)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium  | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Central scored the first seven points of the game and did not allow the Bobcats a field goal in the opening 3:20 of the contest. Quinnipiac would answer with eight straight points to take a one-point lead just over five minutes into the game. The teams would go back-and-forth the remainder of the opening half until the Blue Devils used a run at the end of the first half to take a lead into the break. A jumper by Jay Rodgers with 4:20 to go in the half started a 11-3 run that was capped by Davonte Sweatman's third trifecta of the half as CCSU led 33-26 going into halftime.
• Quinnipiac scored the first six points of the second period to cut the Central lead to 33-32 just over a minute into the half. The Blue Devils would stem the run with a three-pointer by Nigel Scantlebury and eventually pushed its lead to 47-37 with five straight points. A Kellen Amos three-pointer with 15:39 to play gave CCSU its largest lead of the game.
• CCSU would be outscored, 16-5, over the next five minutes as Quinnipiac took a one-point lead on a basket by Ike Nweke with 10:38 to play. Neither team led by more than one possession the rest of the way and CCSU would tie the game at 64-all after two foul shots by Scantlebury with 1:44 remaining.
• Following a timeout with 41 seconds left, Balanc hit a three-pointer to break the tie and give QU a three-point lead. The teams would trade trips to the foul line, with CCSU making 6-of-6 at the line, while Quinnipiac would go 5-for-6 to leave the door open for Central. With :05 to play, CCSU had one final possession, but their three-pointer for the win just before the buzzer was off the mark.

NUMBER TO KNOW

9 – Central had nine steals in the game, a mark it reached just four times in 2021-22. Through two games, CCSU is averaging 8.5 steals a game.

NOTES

• The teams were meeting at Detrick Gym for the first time since, Feb. 25, 2013, a 67-65 CCSU win. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 47-24.
• Snoddy posted his fifth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He had two three-pointers and has shot 3-of-7 (.429) from the arc in two games.
• Amos scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the second half. He has averaged 18.5 points in the first two games. He added six rebounds and two steals.
• Sweatman matched a career-high with five rebounds and had two assists, while shooting 4-of-8 from the floor.
• Scantlebury was 7-of-9 from the foul line and added three steals and three assists.
• Jay Rodgers matched a team-high with three assists, with no turnovers.
• Abdul Momoh had two blocked shots.

UP NEXT

 The Blue Devils will travel to St. John's on Tuesday night in a game to be televised on FS2.