A late second-half run lifted top-seeded Central Connecticut
State past #5 seed Mount St. Mary's, 74-68, in the Northeast
Conference semifinals at Detrick Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing by four with 7:45 remaining, Central Connecticut (21-11)
scored nine straight points to take the lead for good.
The Mount (11-20) grabbed a 59-55 lead after a Sam Atupem
turnaround jumper with 7:45 remaining. The Blue Devils, however,
answered with nine straight points to take a 64-59 advantage with
five minutes left. Obie Nwadike started the run with a pair of
free throws and a traditional three-point play by Jemino Sobers
gave the Blue Devils the lead, 60-59. Sobers and Nwadike each
added another basket in the run.
The Mount fought back, and cut the deficit to 66-63 with 2:40
left on a Gus Durr putback. CCSU, however, got a pair of Nwadike
free throws, a stop on the next possession, and a pair of Dannie
Powell foul shots for a 70-63 edge with 1:11 left. Chris Vann
nailed a three-pointer for the Mount with 29 seconds left to make
it 72-68, but CCSU sealed the win with a pair of free throws for
the final of 74-68.
"I'm really proud of the effort our guys put out tonight," said
Mount St. Mary's head coach Milan Brown. "We just came up a little
short against a very good team."
In the first half,
Vann poured in 15 points to pace the Mount to a 39-35 halftime
advantage. Mychal Kearse
added 10 points and four rebounds in the opening half for the
Mount, which shot 56.0 percent from the field in the half.
Trailing 29-26
after a pair of Sobers free throws at the 6:05 mark, the Mount
closed the half on a 13-6 run with Kearse scoring the Mount's final
eight points.
Sobers and Nwadike each scored 20 points in the
win while Tristan Blackwood and Javier Mojica added 13 and 12
points, respectively, in the win. Vann finished with a game-high
22 points for the Mount while Kearse added 16 points and nine
boards in his final game in a Mount uniform.
CCSU held the Mount to 37.1 percent shooting in
the second half and 45.0 percent in the game while converted 50.0
percent in the second half and 46.6 percent overall.
