Horton's Double-Double, Seven Blocks Lead CCSU Past Binghamton in 76-51 Home Win

Central Connecticut (1-3) collected its first win of the season with a 76-51 defeat over Binghamton (1-2) in Detrick Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Sophomore Ken Horton led the Blue Devils with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. It was his second double-double effort of the 2008-09 campaign. Sophomore Aaron Hall added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists, while classmate Shemik Thompson had a career-best 10 assists. The Blue Devils will be off until Sunday, Nov. 30, when they welcome Lafayette to New Britain for a 2 p.m. contest.

The Blue Devils had 26 assists in the game including 19 on 20 second half baskets as they rolled to their first victory of the season. CCSU also started last season 0-3 before topping Binghamton in their fourth game of the season. They are now 4-0 all-time against the Bearcats including a pair of wins at Detrick Gym.

The 26 assists in the game were the most for the Blue Devils in a game since Dec. 12, 2001 when they also had 26 assists in a 107-76 win over Long Island on the road.

Horton became the first player since the start of the 1992-93 season (Damian Johnson) to post at least 18 points in the first four games of the season. He is averaging 23 points per game through the first four games and his shooting 56.3 percent (36-of-64) from the floor. His seven blocks on Tuesday night matched his career-high and give him 11 for the season. His 84 career blocks are good for seventh all-time at CCSU.

Central led 28-24 at the break in a half where neither team shot the ball well. Binghamton was 10-of-32 and CCSU hit only 11-of-28 field goal attempts in the first period. It marked the first time all season the Blue Devils have led at the break.

In the second half CCSU hit on 20-of-30 shots from the floor and were led by Horton's 14 second half points. The Blue Devils assisted on an incredible 19-of-20 second half field goals including nine by Thompson. Thompson now has a team-best 25 assists on the season through four games. He also leads the team with seven steals.

Binghamton cut the lead to two points (30-28) at the beginning of the second half but Central Connecticut responded with a 23-7 run over the next 10 minutes of the game to take a commanding 55-37 lead with 9:39 on the clock. The Bearcats were able to cut it to 12 at 57-45 but the Blue Devils used their fast break offense to score 19 of the game's final 25 points to win by 21.

Binghamton finished the game 0-of-19 from three, just three shy of the NCAA record of 0-for-22 set by St. Bonaventure in 1995. For the game the Blue Devils held Binghamton to 29 percent (20-of-69) shooting and also outrebounded the Bearcats 41-37. It was the third time this season the CCSU outrebounded its opponent.

Sophomore David Simmons had a season-best 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils and also added six points. Hall's 13 matched a career-high and he was 3-for-3 from the line in the game. He shot 5-of-7 from the floor and also grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Junior Joe Seymore had 14 points including four big threes. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had four steals.

CCSU plays again on Sunday hosting Lafayette at 2 p.m. Fans can watch both games live by logging into the mediaCENTRAL section of CCSUBlueDevils.com and purchasing a subscription for CCSU men's and women's basketball for the winter season. The game will also be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410 in Hartford.