NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Central Connecticut State took advantage of 11 Saint Francis turnovers in the first half to build a double-digit halftime lead, and the Blue Devils held on for a 65-52 victory over the Red Flash on Thursday night at Detrick Gym.
Junior Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) made 10-of-13 free throw attempts for a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds, while senior Kyle Jackson (Bolingbrook, IL /Plainfield Central ) (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Plainfield Central) scored a career high 12 points to go with two steals, two assists and a block.
Sophomore Ken Horton led all scorers with 21 points to go with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Shemik Thompson had 17 points and two steals for CCSU.
The Red Flash will try to bounce back when they travel to Wagner for a 4 p.m. tip on Saturday afternoon. That game will be televised live on MSG and FCS-Atlantic, and will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Sunday on tape delay.
Despite struggling with taking care of the ball at the outset, the Blue Devils held just a 13-11 lead five and a half minutes into the game. However, they went on a 5-0 run to make it 18-11, and SFU never got any closer.
The Blue Devils were paced by Horton with 11 points, six rebounds and three steals in the first half, while taking a 34-23 lead into the break. The Red Flash committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes with CCSU converting 12 points off of those SFU miscues.
The Blue Devils took their largest lead of the game, 46-30, with 12:17 remaining in the game on a layup by Horton. But Saint Francis began to chip away, and got the game down to a 10-point deficit, 56-46, with 4:26 to play.
The Red Flash had the ball with a chance to cut the lead to single digits, but junior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) (Zagreb, Croatia / Life Center Academy) was called for his fifth foul of the game on an offensive foul with 3:54 to go. Thompson made a pair of free throws at the other end, and it appeared that SFU would answer on a slam dunk from senior Cale Nelson (Newville, PA /Big Spring) (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) to Sweetney, but senior Steve Profeta (Carnegie, PA /Chartiers Valley ) (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) was called for another offensive foul the next trip down the floor. Horton made a layup at the other end to give CCSU a 60-46 lead and end any chances of Saint Francis pulling off the improbably comeback.
Nelson finished the game with eight points and four assists, bringing his career total to 337 assists, which is sixth on the school's all-time list. Sweetney is inching closer to 1,000 career points (924) and 500 career rebounds (486).
