Men's Basketball Leads Wire-to-Wire in Win at Manhattan

The Central Connecticut men's basketball had four starters score in double-figures and went on the road to defeat Manhattan, 78-67, on Friday at Draddy Gym in Riverdale, NY. The Blue Devils closed the game on a 10-2 run to hold off the Jaspers after they got within three points.

Kellen Amos led CCSU with 20 points, including 6-of-6 on three-pointers, while Jay Rodgers posted his third straight double-digit outing with 15 points. Nigel Scantlebury and Abdul Momoh added 12 and 11 points, respectively. CCSU shot 29-of-53 (.547) from the field overall, and went 10-of-16 (.625) from three-point range. CCSU went 10-of-15 (.667) at the foul line.

Ant Nelson had 21 points to pace Manhattan, while Samir Stewart added 17. The Jaspers were 26-of-57 (.456) overall from the field and 6-of-24 (.250) from three-point range. Manhattan was 9-of-11 (.818) at the foul line.

The Blue Devils will host Army West Point on Tuesday night.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 78, MANHATTAN 67
Records: CCSU (2-10), MC (3-7, 1-0 MAAC)
Location: Draddy Gym | Riverdale, NY

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils scored the games first five points and would not trail on the evening. Five straight points by Kellen Amos would put CCSU ahead 10-2 at the game's first media timeout as the Jaspers did not score a field goal until five minutes into the game.
• Jay Rodgers' back-to-back layups would give Central a double-digit lead at 14-4 with 14:18 to go in the half. Manhattan would get with 16-13 after six unanswered points, including four by Stewart, but that was as close as it would get in the opening period. CCSU would push its lead back to as much as 30-17, before a trifecta by Amos as the first half ended would make it 39-28 at the intermission.
• Amos would open the second period with a three-pointer to give Central its largest lead of the night at 42-28. The Jaspers would chip away at the deficit and rolled off seven unanswered points to get within 58-51 with 8:40 remaining before a layup by Momoh ended the spurt.
• Back-to-back three-pointers  by Stewart got Manhattan within 68-65 with 3:03 remaining. Andre Snoddy would hit a jumper on the following CCSU possession to end the threat by the Jaspers and charge the Blue Devils' 10-2 run to close the game.

QUOTABLE

"Tonight was a total team effort," said head coach Patrick Sellers. "Our defense and rebounding really got us going and our overall toughness allowed us to get a solid road win."

NUMBER TO KNOW

21 – CCSU gave out a season-high 21 assists on 29 field goals. Rodgers and Scantlebury each had six assists.

NOTES

• The teams were meeting for the first time. They were originally scheduled to meet on Nov. 11 but the game was postponed due to court conditions.
• CCSU limited Manhattan to 1-of-6 shooting from the field in the final three minutes.
• Amos finished the game 7-of-11 from the field and was 6-of-6 from three-point range. It was his third 20-point game of the year and he added four rebounds and two blocks.
• Rodgers added a career-high six assists and was 5-of-10 from the field. In the past three games, he is averaging 16.3 points and shooting 18-of-39 (.462) from the floor.
• Scantlebury was an efficient 3-of-4 from the field, 5-of-6 from the line, and added five rebounds, six assists and two steals.
• Momoh finished 5-of-9 from the field to post a career-high in scoring. He grabbed seven rebounds and had three blocked shots. He added two assists and no turnovers.
• Brody Limric scored eight points off the bench, shooting 3-of-3 from the field.
• Davonte Sweatman chipped in five rebounds and three assists.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will host Army West Point on Tuesday night.