January 13, 2011
Men's Basketball Rebounds with 88-75 Win on the Road at Sacred Heart
Juniors Robby Ptacek and Ken Horton combined for 52 points and the Central Connecticut men's basketball team won for the sixth time in the last seven games with a 88-75 win on the road at Sacred Heart. It marked the first road Northeast Conference win for the Blue Devils who are now 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the NEC.
Juniors Robby Ptacek and Ken Horton combined for 52 points and the Central Connecticut men's basketball team won for the sixth time in the last seven games with a 88-75 win on the road at Sacred Heart. It marked the first road Northeast Conference win for the Blue Devils who are now 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the NEC.
Central made 10 of its first 13 baskets from the floor and led
21-11 less than nine minutes into the game. The Pioneers scored 10
straight points, including a pair of threes from Shane Gibson, to
cut the Blue Devil lead to 23-21 just three minutes later.
The Blue Devils built the lead back to eight but a 16-0 run by
Sacred Heart gave the home team a 40-32 lead. The run included
four straight threes in a span of three minutes as the Blue Devils
went scoreless for a span of over six minutes.
Sacred Heart led 40-34 at the break, and the Blue Devils
managed only a pair of free-throws in the final 6:09 of the half
after taking the eight point lead. Central started the game
12-of-16 from the field, but hit only three of its final 14 shots
before halftime. Central was 15-of-30 from the field and hit
2-of-5 from three. The Pioneers shot 15-of-28 but hit an amazing
8-of-12 from three, including its last five of seven of its final
eight threes before halftime.
Ptacek and Horton led the Blue Devils with 11 points each.
Gibson had 16 points at the half, including four threes.
Central tied the game at 44 just three minutes into the second
half. They scored 10 of the first 14 points in the period. They
led 52-48 after a pair of steals and a bucket from freshman De'Angelo
Speech. The third basket of the half from senior Shemik
Thompson gave the Blue Devils a 56-52 lead.
Horton reached 20 points with his second three of the game and
Ptacek made it 63-56 with his second three with under 11 minutes to
play. The run reached 11-4 with a pair of free-throws from junior
Chris
Baskerville, making it 65-56.
The Pioneers answered with four straight to cut the lead to
five but a Horton three-point play, a bucket from Ptacek and
another from Horton pushed the lead to 12, 74-62. Ptacek hit a
three to make it 78-63, it was his 23rd points of the game.
With the lead at nine, Horton hit a pair of free-throws to
make it 84-73 with 1:24 to play. A bucket from sophomore Devan
Bailey iced the win.
Horton led the offense with 27 points while grabbing eight
rebounds. Ptacek added 25 for his fourth straight 20 point game
and his sixth of the season.
Sacred Heart made only 1-of-7 from three in the second half. The Blue Devils were 17-of-33 from the field and 17-of-20 from the free-throw line after halftime.
Sacred Heart made only 1-of-7 from three in the second half. The Blue Devils were 17-of-33 from the field and 17-of-20 from the free-throw line after halftime.
Central won for the 25th straight time when scoring 80 or more
points in a game.
Baskerville added a season-best 13 points and hit 5-of-6 from
the field. Thompson added 10 while also posting seven rebounds and
a game-high seven assists.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. at
Quinnipiac. The game will be televised live on NESN, and you can
listen as always on ESPN Radio 1410 and 1300 and online at
CCSUBlueDevils.com.
