Men's Hoop Drops Second Straight, 48-46, on the Road at FDU

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped its second straight game on Saturday, 48-46, on the road at Fairleigh Dickinson. With the loss the Blue Devils fall to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in Northeast Conference action. Senior Markeys Deans had 11 points and juniors Ken Horton and Robby Ptacek each added 10 in the loss.

Central will return to non-conference action on Tuesday night at Dayton and then on Saturday at Albany. Following the Albany game Central will play six straight home games from Dec. 19 to Jan. 8. They have six non-conference games remaining before returning to NEC play on Jan. 6 at home vs. St. Francis (NY).

The Blue Devils took control early in the game, building a quick 17-8 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the half. They led by as many as 14 in the half, and held a 26-14 lead at halftime.

The Blue Devil defense lead the way in the first half, allowing the Knights to hit onlt 5-of-20 from the field and 0-of-4 from three. The 25 percent shooting before the break was the lowest for an opponent this season for Central.

Offensively Central hit 10-of-26 from the field, and just 1-of-2 from three before halftime. They were 5-of-6 from the free-throw line while the Knights were just 4-of-8. Central held a 21-12 advantage on the boards, led by eight from Horton.

It was all Fairleigh Dickinson in the second half as the Knights used 14 second half points by Kamil Svrdlik to erase the 12 point halftime deficit and come away with the victory.

Svrdlik hit 6-of-9 from the field in the win, and had a double-double with 11 rebounds to go along with his 20 points.

With 10:17 left in the second half, the Blue Devils held a 37-30 lead. A 10-2 run by the Knights erased the Central lead, and gave them their first lead of the night, 40-39. Central answered with four straight points to take a three point lead, but with a 45-42 lead, they went the final 3:22 without a field goal.

The Knights scored six straight points to lead 48-45 with 40 seconds on the clock. A final free-throw by Horton made it 48-46, the final score.

Deans led the offense with 11 points, while Horton and Ptacek each added 10 in the loss. Horton finished the game with nine rebounds as the Blue Devils outrebounded FDU 31-29 in the game.

The Blue Devils continue their road trip on Tuesday night, playing at Dayton beginning at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.