Men's Basketball Falls 67-53 at The Citadel on Sunday Night

Sophomore Robby Ptacek scored a career-high 24 points but the Central Connecticut State University men's basketball dropped a 67-53 decision on the road at The Citadel on Sunday night. With the loss the Blue Devils fall to 1-3 on the season. Ptacek hit 8-of-16 shots from the floor and 4-of-7 from three in the loss. The Blue Devils return to action on Thursday night at St. Francis (NY) as they open Northeast Conference play at 7 p.m. against the Terriers.

The Blue Devils, playing undermanned on Sunday night due to an injury to junior guard Shemik Thompson, had their most productive first half of the season and led 35-33. Central shot 12-of-24 from the field and hit four threes before the break to take the advantage.

In the second half the Citadel held the Blue Devils to only 7-of-19 shooting in the second half and just six points in the final 11:50 to come away with their fifth victory of the season.

Central led by two at the half, 35-33, but struggled offensively to start the second half and committed two turnovers on their first two possessions. They had only two turnovers in the first half helping them take the two point lead.

The Bulldogs took a 46-41 lead with 13:29 to play in the second half but Central climbed back to cut the lead to 53-51 with 8:35 to play. Senior guard Joe Seymore had a pair of buckets during the quick spurt for Central and freshman Joe Efese had a basket underneath on an assist from sophomore Vince Rosario.

The bucket by Efese would be the last for the Blue Devils during a six minute span in which the Bulldogs used a 14-2 run to finish the scoring. Central got just a pair of free-throws from Ptacek in the final 8:35 of the half and did not score a field goal during that time.

Ptacek led the way with his 24 points. Seymore and junior Ross Pentland added seven points and Efese and junior David Simmons each had four. Seymore grabbed four rebounds to lead the team while Simmons and Ptacek each had four.

The Blue Devils return to action on Thursday night and will play their first conference game of the season. Central will travel to St. Francis (NY) to begin league action beginning at 7 p.m. They will then travel to Long Island on Saturday for a game beginning at 4:30 p.m.