Men's Basketball Drops 57-44 Road Decision in NEC Play at Long Island

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped to 5-7 overall and 1-1 in Northeast Conference play with a 57-44 loss on the road at Long Island on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Robby Ptacek led the way offensively for the Blue Devils with 15 points. Central Connecticut returns to action on Monday night at Monmouth beginning at 7 p.m.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half and the Blue Devils led 23-22 at the break. Central Connecticut hit just 11-of-27 shots from the field and 1-of-8 from three. Sophomore Shemik Thompson hit the first three of the game for the Blue Devils and they missed their final seven attempts before halftime.

Long Island was just 10-of-26 from the field and 0-for-6 from three before the break. Thompson led the way for CCSU with nine points in the first half. Sophomore Aaron Hall added six, the final six points of the half for the Blue Devils.

With the Blue Devils leading 28-26 to open the second half the Blackbirds scored five straight points to take a 31-28 lead with 13:44 to play in the second half. The Blackbirds hit 11 of their final 15 shots from the field in the game and used a 17-5 run in the final 7:52 to win by 13. Central Connecticut hit just one field goal in the final 7:52 of the game and finished with a season-low 44 points.

Central Connecticut hit just 7-of-26 from the field in the second half and 18-of-53 in the game. They were 4-of-20 from three in the game after hitting 16-of-31 from three in the last three games combined. Ptacek was 3-of-8 while the rest of the team was only 1-of-12 in the game.

Ptacek led the way offensively with 15 points for the Blue Devils. Hall had 10 and Thompson finished the game with nine points, all in the first half. Horton and Thompson each had seven rebounds for the Blue Devils. Thompson finished the game with six assists. Horton, the league's leading scorer, had only six points while grabbing his seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils will return to action on Monday night at Monmouth. Game time has been moved to 7 p.m. The pre-game on the ESPN CCSU Radio Network will begin at 6:30 p.m.