Men's Basketball Wins on Senior Day to Close Regular Season

The Central Connecticut State men's basketball team closed the regular season with a comeback, 69-64, win over Saint Francis on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium. The Blue Devils trailed by seven points in the second half, but would hold SFU scoreless over the final 3:49 to earn the win on Senior Day.

Darin Smith, Jr. led three Blue Devils in double-figures with 22 points, while Melo Sanchez added 13 points and Max Frazier had 10 points. Central shot 27-of-54 (.500) from the field, and 5-of-15 (.333) on three-pointers. CCSU was of 10-of-11 at the foul line.

Chris Moncrief had 16 points to lead Saint Francis. The Red Flash shot 24-of-55 (.436) overall and 3-of-16 (.188) on three-pointers. SFU was 13-of-18 at the foul line.

Central will host Wagner in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday. Tickets are available at CCSUBlueDevils.com/ccsutickets

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score:  CCSU 69, SAINT FRANCIS 64
Records: CCSU (18-11, 12-6 NEC), SFU (7-24, 5-13 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Central took the lead from the jump and Nico Ashey had four points in the opening 3:51. An Ashley jumper made it 8-4 at the 16:09 mark. The Red Flash would tie the game at 15 with a pair of foul shots with 11:47 to play in the period, but consecutive layups by Melo Sanchez would restore the CCSU lead. SFU would go over six minutes without a field goal until Chris Moncrief hit a floater with 6:54 to play in the half.
• CCSU would score seven straight sparked by a Darin Smith, Jr. layup before Ashton Reynolds hit a three-pointer and James Jones hit a layup to make it 28-19 with 4:04 left in the half.
• Saint Francis would cut into the lead just before halftime. After two foul shots by Jay Rodgers put CCSU ahead 32-25, Moncrief would hit a pair of foul shots with 1:00 to go in the half. CCSU would miss a shot on their final possession and Moncrief made a layup just before the intermission to make it 32-29.
• The teams traded scoring runs to open the second half. CCSU pushed the lead to double-figures after back-to-back three-pointers by Sanchez and Smith, Jr. to make it 40-29 with 18:44 to play. The Red Flash came back with 10 unanswered points. Victor Payne hit a three-pointer to open the run before five straight by Moncrief would make it 40-39 with 16:49 to play. A driving layup by Max Frazier with 15:58 to play would end the SFU run.
• Saint Francis would take its first lead of the game with four straight points after Moncrief made 1-of-2 foul shots with 12:58 to play to make it 43-42. CCSU would go over six minutes without a field goal, while SFU would stretch the lead to 48-42 before Ashton Reynolds would end the CCSU drought with a pair of foul shots. A three-pointer by Payne would make it a seven-point game with 10:19 to play before a Frazier jumper ended the CCSU field goal drought.
• Smith, Jr. would score nine straight points for CCSU, his three-pointer with 4:42 left cut the Central deficit to 60-59. Central would eventually regain the lead on a jumper by Sanchez with 2:14 to play that made it 65-64. Smith, Jr. would convert a pair of foul shots with 0:37 left that made it a three-point game before a turnover gave the Red Flash the ball with 0:28.4 on the clock. SFU would not a get a shot off and CCSU made foul shots to seal the win.

NUMBER TO KNOW

50.0 – CCSU shot 50.0 percent or better from the field for the 13^th time this season and is 12-1 in those games.

NOTES

• Smith, Jr. topped 20 points for the 16^th time this season. He has scored 592 points on the season, which his the fifth-highest single-season total in program history.
• Rodgers finished with eight assists to boost his total to 204 this season. He is just the second player in program-history to post 200+ in a single season (Jere Quinn, 227, 1975-76).
• Sanchez matched a personal-best with three steals in the first half.
• Central has clinched a top-two seed in the league tournament for the third straight season.
• The teams were meeting for possibly the final time as Saint Francis is transitioning to Division III following the season. CCSU leads the all-time series, 31-29.

UP NEXT

• Central will host Wagner in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday. Tickets are available at CCSUBlueDevils.com/ccsutickets

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