Mount St. Mary’s took an early 8-5 lead, connecting on its first two three-point tries. Central responded, though. Senior Javier Mojica hit a fade away jumper from the right baseline to put Central ahead 9-8, and Sobers stretched the Blue Devil lead to three with a dunk just over five minutes into the game.

Mount regained the lead four minutes later on a Sam Atupem basket. Atupem, a sophomore, made it a 14-11 contest with a jumper from the top of the key, but Mojica responded with a three to tie it. Freshman Will Holland connected for threes on back-to-back Mount St. Mary’s possessions, but the Blue Devils kept the game tied with a Tristan Blackwood three and Nwadike lay up plus one.

Sobers put CCSU ahead 25-24 at the 7:18 mark with an old fashioned three-point play, and a Nwadike bucket made it a three-point spread.

Vann, however, put Mount back in front by two points, 31-29, with five straight free throws, the last three coming after being fouled on a three-point attempt.

The two teams traded the lead over the final two-plus minutes, but Mount scored the final six points to gain a 39-35 halftime advantage.

Vann led all players with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including two makes from beyond the arc. Nwadike paced Central Connecticut with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Mount shot 56 percent from the floor and made 4-of-6 three-point tries. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, controlled the paint, scoring 14 points to Mount’s six.

On the opening possession of the second half, freshman Joe Seymore hit a three to cut Central’s deficit to one point. Mount maintained its lead, however, and went ahead by five, 49-44, just less than five minutes in.

The Blue Devils responded on the other with an 8-0 run to regain the lead for the first time since holding a 34-33 first half advantage. Senior Mychal Kearse ended the Mount scoreless stretch, and Holland put the Mountaineers back in front with a baseline jumper.

Mount kept its lead until the 9:00 mark when Nwadike converted a fast break lay up off a Mojica assist. Mount St. Mary’s went back up on the ensuing possession, but Central again rallied. Five straight Sobers’ points put the Blue Devils in front 62-59 with just under six minutes showing on the clock. Nwadike capped a 7-0 Central run before two Markus Mitchell free throws made it a 64-61 game.

Senior Gus Durr’s fifth foul sent Nwadike to line with 2:17 remaining. The Jersey City, NJ native, who had made just 4-of-10 free throws to that point, hit both to put Central up 68-63. Junior Dannie Powell, a 44 percent free throw shooter for the season, then made two from the charity stripe to give Central its largest lead, 70-63.

A Vann triple cut the Blue Devil advantage to 72-68 with 30 seconds to play, but Central sealed the win from the free throw line.

The Blue Devils reversed shooting roles with the Mount in the second half, connecting on 50 percent of its efforts while limiting their guests to 37.1 percent from the floor.

Blackwood, a junior, and Mojica added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

"Mount St. Mary's was well prepared. We fought them off and survived.  We have some guys who will not let us lose," said Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman.  "No matter the outcome on Wednesday, this team will be remembered as one of the best to play in Detrick Gymnasium."

The Blue Devils, who are 11-0 at home versus conference opponents this season and 8-0 all-time as the NEC’s number one seed, will host the Sacred Heart on Wednesay, March 7 at 7 p.m. Central won both meetings between the two squads, earning a 103-96 overtime win in New Britain and an 80-66 victory at Sacred Heart.

#2 Sacred Heart 83, #3 Quinnipiac 69
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Fairfield, CT -- Freshman Ryan Litke (Windsor, CT) scored a career-high 16 points, while junior Drew Shubik chipped in 16 and seven rebounds to lead the Sacred Heart University men’s basketball team to an 83-69 win over #3 seed Quinnipiac University in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference men’s basketball tournament Sunday afternoon. The #2 seeded Pioneers will face top-seeded Central Connecticut State in the championship game Wednesday night in New Britain, CT.

Quinnipiac, 14-15, scored the first seven points of the game. Sacred Heart finally got on the board with 15:15 to go in the first half on a layup by senior Tavio Hobson (Seattle, WA). That bucket was the start of a 10-0 run that put the Pioneers on top 10-7.

 “Offensively we didn’t have a good flow on offense in the beginning,” said Hobson. “We were trying to do it all ourselves but we settled down. We also took care of the boards and it allows us to get going offensively.”

The Bobcats retook the lead at 18-17 with 8:00 left in the half on a layup by junior Karl Anderson (Chester, NY). Litke gave the Pioneers the lead back with a trey on the next possession, but DeMario Anderson gave answered for Quinnipiac on the next two trips to put the Bobcats ahead 22-20 with 6:03 left.

Another Litke three with 4:01 to play gave SHU a 28-27 lead that it would convert into a 35-33 edge at the intermission. The Pioneers held Quinnipiac to 39 percent shooting in the half, including 0-11 from three-point range.

Senior Victor Akinyanju (Ardmore, MD) pulled the Bobcats even with a pair of free throws just 20 seconds into the second half but it would be the closest Quinnipiac would get the rest of the game. Two free throws from Brice Brooks with 16:54 left gave the Pioneers a 43-37 lead. Senior Chris Wehye (Brooklyn, NY) would get the Bobcats within two at 43-41 with a tip-in with 15:45 left, but a 7-0 Pioneer run capped by a Litke three put SHU up 48-41.

Freshman Chauncey Hardy (Middletown, CT) gave SHU a double-digit lead with two free throws with 7:53 left and Quinnipiac would get no closer down the stretch. Hardy finished the game with ten points and seven assists.

“We’ve had a lot of firsts this year and we have come a long way as a group,” said SHU coach Dave Bike. “Sometimes you get stronger through adversity and learn from mistakes. This year, I was happy hosting a playoff game. Then we were happy we won. Next we were happy we won a semifinal game and we’ll see what’s next.”

Quinnipiac finished the game just 1-19 from beyond the arc, and 38 percent from the field (25-66). Senior Adam Gonzalez led Quinnipiac with 20 points, including 10-13 from the free throw line, despite spending the four days prior in the hospital with an infection. DeMario Anderson had 14, while Wehye finished with 11.

 “I’d like to congratulate Sacred Heart on its win today,” said Quinnipiac coach Joe DeSantis.  “They play hard, and they play well together. If they keep playing the way they have been playing, they’re going to play in the NCAA tournament.”

“We played with a purpose, especially in the first half and we pushed up the defense,” DeSantis continued. “But when you shoot 1-for-19 in 3-pointers with open looks, it would have been closer if we had made the shots we usually do.”

Hobson looks forward to the final game with Central Connecticut. “We match-up well with them. I think,” he said. “There, we were buckling down on defense but we were careless at times on offense and that hurt us. Here, we came out flat and you can’t turn things on and off. We will use the next few days to prepare.”