Jan. 27, 2007

Final Stats

NEW BRITAIN, CT - Tristan Blackwood scored 29 of his career-high 32 points after halftime as Central Connecticut rallied from 19 points down to earn a 103-96 overtime victory over Sacred Heart on Saturday.

The win gave the Blue Devils (11-10, 8-1 Northeast Conference) sole possession of first place in the conference.

The Pioneers ran out to a quick 7-0 start with senior Tavio Hobson (Seattle, WA) burning a three from the corner to force an early CCSU timeout at 17:04. Drew Shubik (Stoystown, PA) made it 9-0 on a lay-up on SHU's next possession while Central continued to struggle, missing their first seven shots before a Jermino Sobert tip-in at 15:35 to produce the Blue Devil's first points.

SHU kept their hot hand and ran their lead to 14-2 as Shubik converted a three-point play off a steal at half court. The Pioneer offense starting hitting its stride by the midpoint of the half as freshman Ryan Litke (Windsor, CT) buried back-to-back three's to lead 23-10, forcing another Central timeout.

Brooks finished the first half tying his career-high with 14 points as the Pioneers shot 51.6% (16-31) and turned the Blue Devils over 15 times that they converted to 17 points the other way. SHU led 42-30 at the intermission.

In the second half the Pioneers took its largest lead at 53-34 with 16:46 to play on a basket by junior Joey Henley (Kent, WA) before the Blue Devils began to mount their comeback.

Behind the inside play of Nwadike (22 points, 11 rebounds before fouling out with just over 3:00 left in regulation) the Blue Devils used the inside and outside game to perfection while hitting on 18-of-28 second half shots and committing only three turnovers in the second half and overtime. They were 10-of-19 from three in the final 25 minutes of the game.

Down 54-36 with 16 minutes to play in the second half, the Blue Devils used a 27-11 run over the next eight minutes to cut the Pioneer lead to 65-63 with just over eight minutes to play. Sacred Heart responded by pushing the lead back to eight points on a pair of occasions including 73-65 with 6:08 to go in the half.

Six straight points by the Blue Devils, all on three pointers by Blackwood, tied the game at 82-82 before Sacred Heart responded with a quick basket by Jarrid Frye to make it 84-82.

Trailing 85-84 Blackwood used a running lay-up to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, 86-85, with under one minute to play. Sacred Heart took an 87-86 lead on a runner in the lane by Henley and Mojica hit one of two free-throws with 3.8 seconds left to send it to overtime.

The Pioneers took a 95-92 lead early in the overtime period, thanks to a Chauncey Hardy three-pointer, but it was all Central Connecticut in the final 2:54 as Blackwood scored 10 of his 32 points and CCSU outscored the Pioneers 11-1 to earn their sixth straight win to move to 8-1 in NEC play.

The Pioneers return home on Tuesday night after three-straight on the road to host Fairleigh Dickinson. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm.

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