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CCSU Holds on For 82-78 Win over Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2008
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Lafayette men's basketball team put up a fight to the end, but Central Connecticut's steady hands at the free throw line secured an 82-78 win against the Leopards on Sunday afternoon. Jeff Kari scored a career-high 23 points, notching his fifth career high in the last six games. Andrew Brown and Jared Mintz chipped in 16 points and 11 points, respectively. Ken Horton led four Central Connecticut (2-3) players in double figures with his 20 points. Robby Ptacek bested his 7.8 points per game with a career-high 18 points and was followed by Joe Seymore (12) and Aaron Hall (11). Lafayette (2-4) rallied from a 14-point deficit at 13:55 in the first half, taking its first lead of the game less than a minute into the second half. The Leopards scored seven straight points in the first 50 seconds taking a 44-43 lead after Darion Benbow stole a pass, which led to a Ben Wheeler trey. The lead traded hands four times and the Blue Devils managed to amass an eight-point lead with fewer than five minutes remaining. But, Lafayette went on a 7-0 run and Jim Mower put the Leopards within striking distance after he sank a three-pointer to make it 73-72 with 3:14 remaining. Brown knotted the score at 75 with a three-pointer off an offensive rebound with 2:19 remaining, but Horton helped CCSU regain the lead with two free throws. Mintz could have tied the game at 77, but he only converted one of two shots from the charity stripe. Down by two points with 30 seconds remaining, Brown advanced the ball up the floor. He slipped and lost possession of the ball near the arc. CCSU reclaimed possession and squeaked out with the four-point win.
Lafayette returns to Connecticut on Thursday with 7 p.m. matchup at Hartford. Game Notes: Freshman Rob Delaney punched in his first start of his career, in place of Ben Wheeler. Wheeler has been filling in for Michael Gruner, who suffered and injury in practice two weeks ago. There were eight and-1 opportunities between the two teams - CCSU with seven and Lafayette with one. Of the eight, just four were converted. Lafayette committed a season-low 13 turnovers. |
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