Smith shines as CCSU holds off UMass Lowell for second straight win

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — After sitting out his true freshman season last year as a redshirt, Darin Smith, Jr. wasn’t too sure what his role was for Central Connecticut State and head coach Patrick Sellers heading into the season. 

“I worked a lot last year and learned from the older guys,” Smith said.

Smith’s role has been larger than even he could have expected. After starting the opener against Providence in his first college game, he has since been the sixth man on a deep Blue Devil team looking to make a run towards back-to-back Northeast Conference regular season titles. Even through just seven career games, Smith has looked like a veteran on the court with his poise and confidence scoring the basketball.

On Sunday, he led the Blue Devils to a 69-67 win over fellow New England foe UMass Lowell to put CCSU back over .500 on the season in a game that almost slipped away.

“We have some older, talented guys that do good things,” Sellers said. “We can’t allow them to let up. We have to stay on these guys constantly. Our staples are rebounding, defending and taking care of the basketball.”

“We work every day on late-game scenarios,” Smith added. “I feel like we stayed at it, played defense and dug out the win.”

Smith scored 14 points off the bench to lead the team in scoring and was aggressive on the defensive end, using his length to disrupt the Riverhawks’ offensive flow. Joining the Springfield native in double figures were Abdul Momoh and Devin Haid. Momoh finished with 13 points and six rebounds, scoring back-to-back key buckets down the stretch when the Blue Devils were trailing late. Haid had some nice finishes inside off the glass and had a team-best eight rebounds.

“We have a number of guys who can put the ball in the hoop,” Sellers said. “We got a whole roster here that can do some things.”

On a night where Jordan Jones couldn’t get anything to drop, it was critical for the supporting cast to step it up. Jones shot 2-of-11 from the field and had some ugly misses, but stayed composed and impacted the game in other ways, such as his team-best five assists.

The Blue Devils were in control for a majority of the game up until around the midway point of the second half. Their biggest lead was up to 13 points early in the frame, but they hit a wall offensively and were searching for answers.

That answer was Momoh.

“He’s important to our team,” Smith said. “He’s our big man and we need him to play like that every game.”

Momoh scored seven straight Blue Devil points to put his team from tied at 60 to up five at 67-62. A late push from the Riverhawks, something UMass Lowell has done multiple times this season, ultimately came up short, and the Blue Devils had a hard-fought two-point victory.

“We knew they were going to hang and hang,” Sellers said. “You knew they were going to make a run, so our guys knuckled up on defense.”

UMass Lowell big man Max Brooks had a day to remember, scoring a season-best 29 points and starting the game 10-for-10 from the field before finishing 11-of-14. Brooks gave the CCSU big men trouble all game long.

“We let him catch the ball too easily,” Sellers said. “With Brooks, they fed him and he got into the post a lot against us.”

Up next for Central Connecticut State is a road clash with UMass in Amherst on Wednesday.