Horton's Career-High 35 Not Enough as Blue Devils Fall by One to Quinnipiac

Junior Ken Horton scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed nine rebounds but the Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped a 68-67 decision at home to Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon. With the loss the Blue Devils drop to 18-9 overall and 11-5 in Northeast Conference play. The Bobcats are 19-8 and 11-5, and hold the tie breaker against the Blue Devils after winning both games between the two teams this season.

Horton led all scorers with his career-high 35 points. He was 10-of-19 from the floor and hit 13-of-14 from the free-throw line in the loss. It was only the second loss of the season at home for the Blue Devils, who are no 11-2 at Detrick Gym.

Central shot poorly from the floor, hitting only 17-of-48 and just 2-of-7 from three. They outrebounded the Bobcats 37-33, including a game-high nine from Horton.

With the score 68-67, the Blue Devils were forced to foul with under 35 seconds on the game clock. Quinnipiac Dave Johnson, who was 6-of-6 at the line in the game before that point, missed both shots and gave Central the chance for the win.

After calling timeout with 15 seconds on the clock, the Blue Devils were forced to take their final timeout after senior Shemik Thompson slipped to the floor with seven seconds to play. After inbounding the ball, Horton got a look from about 25 feet, but the shot was wide and the Bobcats held on for the victory.

Quinnipiac led by as many as 10 in the second half, but the Blue Devils were able to tie the score three times in the final eight minutes. They could never pull ahead. Down four, 68-64, with 2:13 to play, Central would hold the Bobcats scoreless for the rest of the game. Neither team would make a field goal for the remainder of the game.

Freshman De'Angelo Speech hit one of two from the line with 1:54 to play to cut it to three. The Horton hit a pair of free-throws with 1:02 on the clock to cut it to one. After the Bobcats missed a three point attempt with 39 seconds left, they got the offensive rebound and the Blue Devils were forced to foul.

Horton's career night led all scorers, it was his fifth career game, and fourth this season, with 30 or more points. Junior Robby Ptacek added 11 points and sophomore Joe Efese had seven points and three rebounds.

Horton's 35 points give him 1,360 for his career, moving him to 12th place all-time for the Blue Devils. He also added four blocks and now has 153 in his career.

The Blue Devils will finish the regular season on the road, playing at St. Francis (NY) on Thursday night before heading to league-leader Long Island on Saturday.