WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Central Connecticut State's men's basketball team kept the nation's fifth longest winning streak alive on Thursday night with a 70?65 road win over Monmouth University. The Hawks rallied late, erasing a double digit deficit but could not overcome the 14 point halftime margin.
Down by 14 to start the half, Monmouth's Corey Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/Shelburne) scored first but after five minutes of play the Hawks still trailed by 10. With 12 minutes to play Marques Alston (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) put back a missed free throw to put the score at 43-36. Monmouth hit the boards and played solid defense in the middle of the second frame but was unable to convert on the offensive end of the floor as the Central lead grew to double digits.
Dejan Delic (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy) converted a three point play to close the gap to 51-41 with 7:11 to play. Jhamar Youngblood (Newark, N.J./St. Patrick's) completed a traditional three point play to get the Hawks to within nine with just over four to play. Youngblood scored the next four MU points but the Central extended their lead to 10 with time winding down. After Whitney Coleman (Salem, Conn./Suffield Academy) blocked a Central shot, Youngblood was fouled on a successful shot, then hit the ensuing foul to get the home squad to within five. With under a minute to play, Blue Devil Javier Mojica hit a running jumper with time running out on the shot clock to give his squad a seven point lead. Delic hit a late three pointer but the Central margin proved too much to overcome for Monmouth.
The game began as a long range shooting affair, with MU's Delic and Coleman hitting treys to give the Hawks a 6-3 lead. Monmouth held on to an 8-7 lead before Central's Blackwood hit his second three pointer of the game to give the Blue Devils a two point edge. Two minutes later Blackwood knocked down another from downtown and Central owned a 15-10 lead. The Hawks mounted a 5-0 run to tie the game but the Blue Devils rattled off three straight buckets to regain its lead. Monmouth was held to one point for eight minutes before two John Bunch (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) free throws broke the scoring drought for the Hawks, who trailed Central 37?23 going into the break.
Delic led the Hawks with 19 points, while Youngblood finished with 15 on the night. Alston finished with 11 points and six rebounds as Bunch scored 10 points and grabbed five boards.
Blackwood had 21 for Central, with Obie Nwadike tallying 15 points of his own. Mojica finished with 18 points and led the Blue Devils with seven rebounds.
Central was 27-of-33 from the charity stripe, while Monmouth was 19-of-30. The Hawks shot 44.7 percent in the game, compared to CCSU's 41.3 shooting percentage.
The Hawks fall to 11-15 overall and 6-8 in the Northeast conference. Central, the NEC's leading team, improved to 14-1 in conference play and 17-10 overall.
Monmouth will go on the road against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
