Central Connecticut Drops Tight Game at Rhode Island on Saturday Afternoon

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team led at Rhode Island with six minutes to play but the Rams used a 14-2 run over a five minute span to take control of the game and win on Saturday afternoon. Rhode Island won 77-69 and dropped the Blue Devils to 4-5 on the season with their second straight loss. Sophomore Ken Horton led the way with 23 points and eight rebounds for CCSU. The Blue Devils return to action next Saturday at 1 p.m. hosting Princeton, the game will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television.

Rhode Island climbed out to a quick 11-7 but the Blue Devils responded with an 8-0 run to take a 16-13 lead with 13:06 on the clock. The run reached 16-6 and Central Connecticut led 23-17 following the 11th point of the game from Horton. The lead was cut to four but the Blue Devils responded with four straight points, including a basket by freshman Robby Ptacek, to bring the lead back to eight point at 31-23.

The Blue Devils led 38-33 at the half after shooting 52.0 percent (13-of-24) from the field and hitting 3-of-4 from three. The Rams, however, were 0-for-8 from behind the arc in the half but still shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) from the floor.

Horton led the Blue Devils with 13 first half points, including a pair of threes. He also grabbed four rebounds but the Blue Devils were outrebounded in the half 17-13. Sophomore David Simmons added eight first half points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. CCSU assisted on 11 of 13 of the first half baskets including four by sophomore Shemik Thompson.

The Rams stormed back into the lead with a 10-0 run early in the second, led by a pair of threes from sharpshooter Jim Baron. They led 46-42 when when the Blue Devils answered with six straight points, including a pair of free-throws from Horton, to take a 48-46 lead with 11:42 on the clock. A Horton layup made the run 8-0 and pushed the lead to four.

The teams traded baskets and the game was tied with 7:37 on the clock when the Rams hit a pair of free-throws to take a 56-54 lead. The Blue Devils hit threes on back-to-back possessions to take a 60-59 lead with under six minutes to play.

The Rams used an 8-0 run over the next 1:13 to take their largest lead of the game, 67-60, forcing a Blue Devil timeout. CCSU cut it to 67-62 but the Rams scored four straight to make it 73-62 with under a minute to play.

Horton led the way offensively with 23 points and eight boards. He also had three assists and a block. Simmons matched his career-high with 13 points in 27 minutes. Ptacek had 13 points and three assists while Thompson added eight points, eight assists and four steals in the loss.

The Blue Devils are off for a week before hosting Princeton on Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. The game will be aired live on Cox Sports Television and also the CCSU ESPN Radio Network on ESPN Radio 1410 in Hartford and ESPN Radio 1300 in New Haven.