By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — With Central Connecticut ahead 23-22 over Wagner with 5:23 left in the first half, starting center Max Frazier picked up a silly second foul 94 feet from the basket going for an offensive rebound.
During the tie-up, he and Seahawks’ guard Bryan Akanmu picked up double technical fouls for going at each other, granting Frazier his third foul before halftime.
“With Max, he’s such a dynamic lob threat that can block shots, you see him dunking everything,” head coach Patrick Sellers said, aware of how crucial Frazier is to the Blue Devils scheme.
The game could easily have flipped on its head after that, with CCSU needing to go five minutes without its anchor on the defensive end, but it was quite the opposite. The Blue Devils ended the half on a 15-6 run from that point and cruised to an 84-67 win on Saturday afternoon at Detrick Gymnasium.
“We ended the half the right way,” Sellers said. “We talked well, I don’t know what the run ended as, but we ended up with a good lead at halftime.”
Darin Smith, Jr. got the scoring stretch started with a top of the key triple, three of his 14 first-half points. He finished with 25 points on 7-of-16 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
“Yesterday’s practice was a little different than what we usually do,” Smith said. “We just got a lot of shots up and had a lot of energy in the building, so that helped us get ready for today.
This marks back-to-back games where Smith was able to get back to his usual self in the scoring column. After averaging just 12.3 points per game during CCSU’s 1-4 skid to close January, Smith followed up his 24 points on Thursday over Chicago State with 25 on Saturday, his 13th game this year with at least 20 points.
Frazier also had an afternoon outside of the early foul trouble, scoring 21 points on an efficient 7-of-8 from the field. The junior big man has developed his game as the season has progressed, turning into a more well-rounded post presence as opposed to just a lob threat. The 21 points marks the third time he's reached 20 this year, doing so in the same game as Smith each occasion.
“In practice, I’m always backing down and backing down,” Frazier said. “I’m always posting up, so in games, it’s easy for me.”
The lob threat is still there, of course, and Frazier had a pair of emphatic flushes, one from Melo Sanchez in transition and the other from Jay Rodgers on a ball that was so high that he had to reach up with one arm and slam it straight down.
“It’s up there,” Frazier said on where that one-handed lob ranks amongst his best flushes this year. “But I’ve definitely had some better.”
Rodgers agreed, saying, “yeah, I’d say we’ve had some better ones, but that one was nice.”
Rodgers scored 14 points and had just five assists, a below-average day in that regard for one of the top playmakers in the nation. Still, CCSU was able to continue to build its lead after halftime and control the game to finish off the win.
“I think it’s just big for our confidence,” Rodgers said. “You can lose a couple in a row and start questioning yourself, but Coach reassured us.”
The unsung heroes that propelled CCSU to the win were the Joneses (no relation). James Jones grabbed 11 rebounds playing the usual Swiss army knife role he has filled so well, while Roddy Jones hit three triples off the bench for the second time in the past three days.
“He’s a really good player that we’re fortunate to have and now that he’s healthy, him going down the stretch is going to be a big help for us,” Sellers said of James Jones.
“He’s a super, super confident shooter,” Sellers said of Roddy. “He brings the same energy every day and plays really hard.”
The Blue Devils are now 7-5 in NEC play with six games to go, including a short road trip down to New Haven on Thursday. Pending other results around the league, CCSU could be as high as tied for second in the standings despite the rough stretch at the end of January. For the players, their hopes and beliefs are still quite high.
“We feel like we can beat any team in this league, and you’ve got to be clicking at the right time in March,” Rodgers said.
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