Men's Basketball Downs Le Moyne; Will Face FDU Saturday

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team rode a hot start to a comfortable 86-67 win against Le Moyne in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils shot a blistering 64 percent from beyond the arc in the opening period and had four players score in double-figures, while running their win streak to a nation-leading 13 straight games.

Four Blue Devils scored in double-figures led by conference Player of the Year Jordan Jones with 19 points. Jaelen McGlone scored a career-high 18 points, while Devin Haid and Davonte Sweatman had 14 and 10 points, respectively. Central shot 30-of-57 (.526) overall and was 12-of-25 (.480) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 14-of-16 (.875) at the foul line.

Le Moyne was led by a career-high 24 points from Dwayne Koroma. The Dolphins shot 26-of-53 (.491) overall and 4-of-18 (.222) on three-pointers. Le Moyne was 11-of-21 (.524) at the foul line.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. Thursday at CCSUBlueDevils.com/CCSUTickets. CCSU students can check their student email for information on ticket distribution which will be Friday.

GAME INFORMATION | NEC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS | BOX SCORE
Score:  #1 CCSU 86, #8 LE MOYNE 67
Records: CCSU (24-6, 14-2 NEC), LMC (9-22, 4-12 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Le Moyne made their first six shots of the game, but CCSU was just as dialed in, making its first five three-pointers. Jayden Brown would hit a pair of treys in the early-going and Central went on a 9-0 run on three straight triples. Joe Ostrowsky would hit his second in the opening minutes to make it 20-13 with 13:34 to go in half and force a Le Moyne timeout.
• Sweatman scored four straight points to push the Blue Devils lead to double-dgits at 32-20. CCSU would continue its hot start, connecting on four straight three-pointers at one point and a Jones trey pushed lead to 49-28 with 2:23 to go in half. Le Moyne would outscore Central, 8-2, the rest of the way to make it 51-35 at halftime.
• Central missed its first seven shots out of the intermission and went nearly seven minutes without a score, while Le Moyne would use a 15-2 run to get within 51-43 with 16:23 left. Central went nearly 7 minutes without a score before McGlone layup
• A McGlone layup would end the CCSU scoreless drought and Central would go on 12-2 run to push its lead back to double-figures. A McGlone driving layup would make it 64-45 with 10:13 to play and the Dolphins got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
  

NUMBER TO KNOW

11 – CCSU connected on 11 triples in the opening period, going 11-of-17 from distance.

NOTES

• Jones, who was named NEC Player of the Year on Tuesday, shot 7-of-13 in the game and added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• McGlone scored 11 points in the opening period, going 4-of-5 from the floor. He added five rebounds and two steals.
• Jayden Brown had a team-high eight rebounds, along with two blocked shots.
• Joe Ostrowsky scored nine points in the first half on 3-of-3 from the arc. He added three assists and two steals.
• The Blue Devils are 11-1 all-time as the top seed in the NEC Tournament.
• CCSU is 9-12 all-time in the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals.
• Central won all three meetings with the Dolphins this season, while Le Moyne leads the all-time series, 7-6. The teams were meeting in the conference tournament for the first time.

UP NEXT

• The Blue Devils will face FDU in the semifinals on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Tickets will be available online at www.CCSUBlueDevils.com/CCSUTickets

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