By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — The Central Connecticut State lead hit its largest point of 21 after Devin Haid connected on a nifty three-point play.
The Blue Devils were up 47-26 with 17:39 left in the second half, cruising towards their 14th consecutive win and a trip to the Northeast Conference championship game for the first time in nearly two decades.
Then, that 47-26 lead turned to 55-46 over the next nine minutes or so. Even when it hit single digits, it didn’t have the vibes of a game in which the visiting FDU Knights would fully complete the comeback in front of a sellout crowd at Detrick Gymnasium.
“We got out to a 21-point lead and I thought we played one of our better defensive halves of the year in the first half,” head coach Patrick Sellers said.
Later, 55-46 turned into 62-59 with 2:12 remaining. For the first time all half, the Knights made it a one-possession game. The crowd in New Britain was starting to realize what felt impossible was actually happening right in front of it. After being in the same spot last season as the No. 1 seed with the benefit of homecourt advantage the entire tournament, CCSU lost to Wagner in the semis and had its dreams squashed. It looked like it was happening again.
“We have older guys, so we try not to get rattled,” Jordan Jones said. “It’s normal for us to get rattled sometimes, but we don’t let it happen continuously and just keep playing.”
Haid connected on a layup to secure a new career-high 27 points to push the lead back to five, but FDU’s Jameel Morris connected on a three to make it a two-point game. Central responded quickly, as Joe Ostrowsky connected on a tough mid-range jumper to extend the lead back to four. The Blue Devils played phenomenal defense on the other end, but the Knights got a putback layup from Bismark Nsiah, a tip that the FDU forward maybe got one fingertip on and stuck in to make it 66-64 with 40 seconds left.
While bringing the ball up through the press, Jones was called for an offensive foul when he extended his right arm into Terrence Brown, knocking him to the ground. FDU picked up a big stop and had a chance to tie, a chance the Knights didn’t waste, as Brown connected on a baseline deuce to tie things up with 16 seconds to play. Sellers drew up a play to win it, tagging Ostrowsky with the task to be the hero.
Ostrowsky was in isolation before driving, stopping in the paint and pivoting back for a fadeaway jumper that rolled around the rim and fell out, sending a game that CCSU had a 99.6 percent chance to win early in the second half to overtime.
“It’s human to be a little disappointed,” Jones said in reaction to Ostrowsky’s game winner falling short. “There’s going to be ups and downs, but we have shirts that read, ‘Nothing Easy,’ so we know that.”
In overtime, the Blue Devils were able to take care of business thanks to some clutch free throw shooting from Jones and Abdul Momoh to pick up a 76-72 victory and advance to their first NEC title game since the program’s most recent NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007.
“That game was what March Madness is all about,” Sellers said in a relieved tone after his team pulled off the victory.
The story of the game early on was Haid, who ended up with 29 points on a very efficient 12-of-16 shooting from the field. CCSU went on a 10-0 run out of the gate to set the tempo, with Haid accounting for eight in that stretch.
“Just staying aggressive on offense,” Haid said on what was the key to his big day. “We’ve been getting a lot of shots up in practice, so I just stuck with it and kept shooting.”
“He has the ultimate confidence,” FDU head coach Castleberry said of Haid. “I don’t think that guy thinks he’s missing a shot at any point in any game. Between him and Jordan Jones, they have enough guys to score on a regular basis.”
The early offense overall was key as well. The Blue Devils, fresh off burying 11 first-half triples in their quarterfinal win over Le Moyne, knocked down nine in the first 20 minutes against the Knights. This goes against the norm for Sellers’ squad. One of its weaknesses, if you can even call it that, has been streaky perimeter shooting all season long. With how they’ve shot in the postseason, it’s been hard to stop them.
One way you can stop Central, or at least contain them, is with full court pressure. FDU put on a full-court press in what Castleberry called “desperation time,” and it gave the Blue Devils some fits. Overall, they had 17 turnovers, with many of them being unforced errors or live-ball mistakes.
“We did not handle the pressure well, but did a decent job of finishing the game off,” Sellers said.
At the end of the day, even if they turned the ball over a bunch and blew a big lead, all that matters is that the Blue Devils pulled out the win. In March, you don’t get a reward or benefit for winning pretty. Whether you blow a team out by 35 or squeak one out in overtime, all wins count the same in the postseason in college basketball.
“We had an early lead and lost it, but had another chance to finish the job,” Jones said. “We knew in those five minutes that we had what we needed to do to handle business.”
The Blue Devils will now host the NEC Championship game on Tuesday against No. 3 seed Saint Francis University. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCA Tournament next week.
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