CCSU unable to recover as two FDU runs sink Blue Devils

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — You must know the saying by now. It feels like it's said almost once every broadcast in college basketball.

Basketball is a game of runs.

Sometimes those runs go your way and you have success, but other times they don’t and you find yourself searching for answers.

The latter occurred on Friday night for Central Connecticut, as the Blue Devils surrendered separate 15-0 and 12-0 runs on the way to a 76-66 loss to FDU.

“The last three weeks, we’ve been leaking oil on defense,” head coach Patrick Sellers said. “Our defense hasn’t been great, and it's something we’ve talked about and worked on.”

The Blue Devils allowed the Knights to shoot an even 50 percent from beyond the arc (11-for-22), and gave up countless easy layups that could have been contested better. It's the second straight loss for CCSU, and in both games, the defense didn’t do its part. On Friday, it was a pair of guards for FDU in Eric Parnell (29 points, 7-for-12 on three-point field goals) and Joey Niesman (18 points) that stole the show.

“With Parnell, we told them in our scouting report that he’s a really good shooter and that he can’t get going,” Sellers said. “He hit one in front of our bench early in the first half and got going.”

Offensively, CCSU was fine for the most part. The Blue Devils did only go 5-for-15 from three, but continuously got good looks inside the arc. Four players finished in double figures, led by 19 each from Darin Smith, Jr. and Jay Rodgers. Max Frazier and Melo Sanchez each chipped in 11.

After jumping out to an 11-point lead late in the first half, CCSU saw it disappear in an instant with the final 14 points of the half going to the visitors and FDU building a 32-29 lead. A free throw after the break got the run to 15 before the teams traded jabs for a bit, with a Smith three cutting it back to one for the Blue Devils, at 40-39.

From there, the Knights surged again with their 12-0 run to blow the game open. The lead reached 20 after a Parnell three around the seven-minute mark, its highest peak. CCSU tried to play the foul game late, but the game never got back within single digits.

“In our last timeout huddle, I said to the team that I wanted them to know that it was January 23 and we hit a rut,” Sellers said. “I told them we’re gonna pick it up and get it back. We’ve got all of February and March to get going, so we’re gonna figure this thing out as a group.”

As Sellers suggested, there’s still plenty of chances for CCSU to get back on the right track and anything can happen once you hit the NEC Tournament in early March. Unfortunately for them, or fortunately depending on if you look at it as a chance to regroup and recharge, it looks like Sunday’s game at Stonehill will be postponed to a later date. Assuming it is, the Blue Devils would return to action either once that one is made up or on Thursday at Wagner, whichever happens first.