Men's Basketball Upset by Wagner in NEC Quarterfinals
The Central Connecticut State men's basketball team fell to Wagner, 70-60, in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at Detrick Gymnasium. The second-seeded Blue Devils led by four at halftime, but the seventh-seeded Seahawks would outscore the hosts by 14 points in the second half.
Darin Smith, Jr. led the Blue Devils with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Central shot 22-of-58 (.379) from the field, and 6-of-17 (.353)) on three-pointers. CCSU was of 10-of-15 at the foul line.
John Awoke had 18 points to lead Wagner. The Seahawks shot 26-of-58 (.448) overall and 7-of-20 (.350) on three-pointers. Wagner was 11-of-12 at the foul line.
NEC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS | BOX SCORE
Score: CCSU 60, WAGNER 70
Records: CCSU (18-12, 12-6 NEC), Wagner (14-16, 8-10 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT
KEY MOMENTS
- The game was scoreless for the opening 3:17 until a turnaround jumper by James Jones. Wagner would miss its first nine shots until a putback over 3:47 into the contest. Darin Smith, Jr. would get going and score seven straight for CCSU before a putback by Daniel James opened a 11-4 lead at the 14:22 mark.
- The teams would combine to make 10-of-14 shots at one point and a six-point run by Wagner gave them their first lead following a layup by Nick Jones to make it 19-18. Central would be held without a field goal for nearly six minutes until a Jay Rodgers three-pointer tied the game at 22.
- Smith, Jr. would close the half by making three straight shots, including a pair of three-pointers. His eight-point spurt would put Central up six until a pair of Wagner foul shots just before halftime made it 35-31 at the break.
- CCSU was limited to one field goal in the opening six minutes, while Wagner edged ahead briefly at 38-37 with 14: 41 to play. The teams would exchange one-point leads until a three-pointer by Jones put Wagner up 43-40 with 11:43 to play.
- The Seahawks would maintain the lead and extended it to 52-46 with 6:50 left after a Binael Basil layup. Wagner would open its largest lead of the night to that point with a back-to-back jumper and three-pointer by John Awoke to make it 57-50 with 5:00 to play. Central would go almost five minutes without a field goal, while Wagner pushed the lead to nine points before a short jumper by Max Frazier with 3:20 to play.
- Following a technical foul, Awoke would make two foul shots to push the lead to double figures with 2:34 to play. Central would briefly cut the lead to 63-54 but would get no closer.
NUMBER TO KNOW
12 – The teams combined to commit just 12 turnovers in the game. With the Seahawks holding a 15-8 edge in points off turnovers.
NOTES
- Smith, Jr. topped 20 points for the 18th time this season and collected his third double-double of the campaign. He scored 621 points on the season, which is the third-highest single-season total in program history.
- Frazier was the only other Blue Devil in double-figures with 10 points. He added three rebounds and three blocked shots.
- James Jones grabbed seven rebounds to go with four points.
- CCSU was 0-for-8 from the arc in the second half
- Rodgers had 206 assists this season. He is just the second player in program-history to post 200+ in a single season (Jere Quinn, 227, 1975-76).
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