Men's Basketball Hangs Tight Before Falling to Bryant in NEC Opener

The Central Connecticut men's basketball fell to Bryant, 80-76, in a tightly-contested Northeast Conference opener on Wednesday at Detrick Gymnasium. The Bulldogs led throughout the contest, but were unable to shake loose from a young Blue Devils squad playing without three starters.

Freshman Davonte Sweatman came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points and lead four Blue Devils in double-figures. Freshmen Joe Ostrowsky and Andre Snoddy each added career-highs of 14 and 13 points, respectively. Junior Ian Krishnan chipped in with 14 points. Central shot 30-of-70 (.429) overall and was 8-of-20 (.400) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils shot 8-of-13 (.615) at the foul line.

Hall Elisias led Bryant with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Charles Pride added 11 points and 12 boards. The Bulldogs shot 28-of-62 (.452) overall and 7-of-25 (.280) from the arc. Bryant was 17-of-27 (.630) at the foul line.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 76, BRYANT 80
Records: CCSU (3-10, 0-1 NEC), BRYANT (5-7, 1-0 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium  | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Bryant raced out to a 9-1 lead in the opening 3:06 of the game after starting the game 3-of-4 on three-pointers. The Bulldogs would extend the lead to 28-15 at the 7:09 mark before Central began to chip away at the deficit.
• Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Ostrowsky, Sweatman and Krishnan opened a 14-2 run that got Central within, 30-29, with 4:47 to play in the half after another trey by Ostrowsky. Bryant would score the final eight points of the half, including six from Elisias to make it 40-31 at the intermission.
• Bryant opened the second half with four straight points to extend its run to 12-0. Senior Stephane Ayangma hit a jumper to end the Bryant run and open a spurt of seven straight for Central and make it 44-38 with 17:04 to play.
• CCSU would get within four points before Bryant managed to push its cushion back to 77-65 with 1:45 remaining. The Blue Devils would score a quick 7-0 run to make it 77-72 after a McLaughlin trey with 0:32 remaining. After two missed foul shots by Bryant, Ostrowsky kissed home a jumper to cut the deficit to three with 0:20 left. Bryant would make 3-of-4 foul shots sandwiched around a Sweatman jumper to settle the final margin.

NUMBER TO KNOW

3 - The Blue Devils had four players score in double digits for the third straight game and fourth time overall this season. Three of the double-digit scorers were freshmen.

NOTES

• Bryant leads the all-time series, 21-18, and has won the past three meetings.
• The Blue Devils committed a season-low 7 turnovers and have not committed more than 16 turnovers in the past 12 games. CCSU has a combined +13 turnover margin over the past nine games.
• CCSU freshmen combined for 57 points and 26 rebounds in the contest.
• Sweatman shot 7-of-13 in the contest and added two assists in 32 minutes.
• Ostrowsky shot 5-of-10 from the field and Snoddy was 6-of-10. Ostrowsky added seven assists and two steals in 37 minutes, while Snoddy had five rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Freshman Abdul Momoh shot 3-of-4 from the field and had six points and seven rebounds in his fist action of the year.
• CCSU's bench outscored Bryants, 22-17 and had a 15-10 edge in fast break points.

UP NEXT

 The Blue Devils have back-to-back games this weekend. Central plays at St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday before playing at Rutgers on Saturday.