Sophomores Horton and Thompson Lead Blue Devils to 91-78 Win at FDU on Saturday Night
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team won its second straight Northeast Conference game with a 91-78 victory on the road at Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday night. Sophomore forward Ken Horton led the way with 29 points, the second-best scoring output of his career Classmate Shemik Thompson added 12 points and nine assists in the victory while senior Marcus Palmer add 23 points in the win. With the win the Blue Devils improve to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Knights are 2-13 overall and 2-4 in the NEC with the loss. Central Connecticut returns to action on Thursday night at Robert Morris beginning at 7 p.m.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team won its second
straight Northeast Conference game with a 91-78 victory on the road
at Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday night. Sophomore forward Ken
Horton led the way with 29 points, the second-best scoring
output of his career Classmate Shemik
Thompson added 12 points and nine assists in the victory while
senior Marcus
Palmer add 23 points in the win. With the win the Blue Devils
improve to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Knights are
2-13 overall and 2-4 in the NEC with the loss. Central Connecticut
returns to action on Thursday night at Robert Morris beginning at 7
p.m.
Both teams started 6-of-10 from the field and the Knights hit three
of their first five threes to take a 15-14 lead at the first media
timeout with 14:15 on the clock. Fairleigh Dickinson took a 29-23
lead its fifth three pointer of the half with 8:43 to play before
the break.
The Blue Devils cut it to 31-29 as Horton scored his eighth
straight point for CCSU and his 14th of the game. A pair of
free-throws from Thompson tied it at 31 with under seven minutes to
play. The run reached 10-0 on a basket by freshman Robby
Ptacek and a pair of free-throws by Horton as CCSU led 35-31
with just over four to play before the half.
The run was 16-3 when Horton scored his 20th point of the half and
sophomore David
Simmons hit a lay-up to make it 41-34 in favor of the
visitors. The Knights scored the final four points before the
break to make it 41-38 at the half.
Horton led the way offensively for CCSU with 20, while Thompson had
four points and six assists. CCSU hit 17-of-26 shots from the
floor including both three-point attempts. They shot a season-best
65.4 percent from the field before halftime.
The Knights had at least 11 points before the break. Cameron Tyler
and Sean Baptiste each had 11 while Eric Moore had 12 to lead the
home team. The Knights were only 15-of-35 from the floor but hit
6-of-15 from three including three by Tyler and two by Moore.
Central Connecticut opened the second half scoring seven of the
first nine points to stretch its lead to 48-39. A three by Ptacek,
his first of the game, gave the Blue Devils their largest lead to
that point.
After the Knights cut it to five a three by Palmer and an old
fashioned three-point play by Horton made it 56-45. Horton scored
on the next possesion, his 27th point, to make it 58-45. FDU
would cut it to eight twice in a span of two minutes but both times
three-point baskets by Palmer ended the mini-run and gave CCSU an
11-point edge. Palmer scored eight straight points for the Blue
Devils to make it 67-56 with 7:29 on the clock.
FDU cut it to 71-62 before Thompson hit a pair of free-throws to
give CCSU back the 11 point lead. A three by the Knights on their
next possession and then a steal and a basket cut the lead to 73-67
with 3:52 to play. The FDU run was 11-2 and covered just over two
minutes. Thompson hit a jumper and Palmer made one of two
free-throws to give CCSU the 80-71 edge. Palmer hit a lay-up off
an inbound pass to make it 82-71.
The Blue Devils hit 9-of-10 free-throws in the final 1:30 to secure
the victory. They had 22 assists in the game but also turned the
ball over 21 times in the game. They outrebounded the Knights
38-28.
Horton led the way for the Blue Devils with his 14th career game
with 20 or more points. He scored 29 points and grabbed five
rebounds. Palmer added a season-best 23 points to go along
with eight boards. Thompson finished the game with 12 points and
nine assists. Simmons had seven points and eight rebounds while
sophomore Tamir
Johnson had eight points and matched his career-high with nine
rebounds.
The Blue Devils return to action on Thursday night as they continue
their road trip at Robert Morris at 7 p.m. The game can be heard
live on the CCSU ESPN Radio Network on ESPN Radio 1410 in Hartford
and ESPN Radio 1300 in New Haven.
