Men's Basketball Falls to Saint Francis U in NEC Championship
Visiting third-seeded Saint Francis U. upset the top-seeded Central Connecticut men's basketball team in the Northeast Conference Championship, 46-43, on Tuesday night in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils had their nation's-best 14-game win streak snapped in their first NEC title game trip since 2007.
Devin Haid scored 14 points and was the only Blue Devil in double-figures. Central shot 17-of-56 (.304) overall and was 3-of-17 (.176) from three-point range. The Blue Devils were 6-of-8 (.750) at the foul line.
Juan Cranford, Jr., the NEC Tournament MVP, scored 14 points to lead the Red Flash. SFU was 19-of-60 (.317) overall and 5-of-26 (.192) on three-pointers. SFU was 3-of-7 (.429) at the foul line.
GAME INFORMATION | NEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP | BOX SCORE
Score: #1 CCSU 43, #3 SAINT FRANCIS U 46
Records: CCSU (25-7, 14-2 NEC), SFU (16-17, 8-8 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT
KEY MOMENTS
- The teams opened the game shooting a combined 3-of-14. After scoring on their opening shot of the game, SFU would miss 12 straight field goal attempts before Cranford, Jr. hit back-to-back layups to make it 6-4 nearly eight minutes into the game.
- The Blue Devils never led by more than a basket all night and after a Darin Smith, Jr. trifecta made it 11-10 at the 6:39 mark, the Red Flash would retake the lead on the next possession with their first three of the night. SFU would edge ahead 20-16 before Jordan Jones hit a jumper and Devin Haid had a steal and dunk just before halftime to tie the game 20-all at the break.
- SFU would match its largest lead of the night, going ahead 26-22 with 17:03 to play. The Red Flash would equal their largest lead twice more in the period, but the Blue Devils would rally to tie the game on six occasions, but never took the lead after halftime.
- Joe Ostrowsky would tie the game one final time with a driving layup with 0:17 remaining. SFU would hit the go-ahead jumper with nine seconds to play when Daemar Kelly scored his only basket of the half. Chris Moncrief would hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 0:01 left and the Blue Devils' last-gasp heave went off the back of the rim.
NUMBER TO KNOW
3,204 – The announced attendance for the game.
NOTES
- Haid was named to the All-Tournament Team and added five rebounds and two steals.
- Abdul Momoh grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with six points and a blocked shot.
- The Red Flash became the eighth difference NEC school to win the league's tournament in the past eight seasons.
- The Blue Devils slip to 12-2 all-time as the top seed in the NEC Tournament.
- CCSU is 3-3 all-time in the NEC title game.
- SFU ended a five-game slide in the series and is 2-1 against CCSU in the NEC Tournament.
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