Men's Basketball Season Ends on Thursday Night With Quarterfinal Loss at Sacred Heart
The Central Connecticut men's basketball season came to an end on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Blue Devils dropped a 76-64 decision on the road at third-seed Sacred Heart. With the loss the Blue Devils finish the season with a 13-17 overall record, they were the sixth seed in the tournament for the second straight season.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball season came to an end
on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference
Tournament. The Blue Devils dropped a 76-64 decision on the road
at third-seed Sacred Heart. With the loss the Blue Devils finish
the season with a 13-17 overall record, they were the sixth seed in
the tournament for the second straight season.
The Blue Devils missed their first five shots from the field before
sophomore David Simmons took a pass from classmate Aaron Hall at
the 16:10 mark to cut a quick Sacred Heart lead to 7-2. The first
basket of the game from junior Joe Seymore cut it to 13-6 but the
Blue Devils made just three of their first 13 shots from the
field.
The Blue Devil run reached 7-0 on the first three of the game by
sophomore forward Ken Horton. The Pioneers answered quickly with a
5-0 run of their own to up their lead to 18-11. An 8-2 run by the
Blue Devils cut the lead to one, 20-19, with 4:46 on the clock.
Four different players scored during the run for CCSU.
The Pioneers led 33-25 at the half on the strength of 5-of-12
shooting from behind the three-point line. CCSU hit just 11-of-26
from the field and 1-of-6 from three. Eight of the nine players
who played for CCSU scored, led by four players who each had four
points.
Both teams came out firing the second half and combined to hit nine
of the first 13 shots from the floor. Sacred Heart took a 10-point
lead with 14:22 to play, 49-39, and then stretched it to 12, 57-45,
with under 12 minutes to play. Horton's second three of the game
cut it to nine and following a Sacred Heart turnover and a foul
Horton hit one of two free-throws to make it 57-49.
The lead climbed back to 13 at 64-51 as the Pioneers continued to
shoot well in the second half. Down 11, 71-60, the Blue Devils
scored four straight to cut it to 71-64 with 2:46 to play. SHU hit
two free-throws with 1:45 on the clock to push the lead back to
nine.
The Blue Devils were led by freshman Robby Ptacek who had a
game-high 15 points to go along with three rebounds. Horton and
Simmons each had 12 for the Blue Devils in the loss. Hall had a
team-high seven assists while sophomore Shemik Thompson added nine
points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Blue Devils end the season with a 13-17 overall record.
