By Christopher McLaughlin
The CCSU men’s basketball team turned in another dominating performance, rolling through NEC opponent Mount St. Mary’s 71-52.
The Blue Devils (13-7) were led by Ken Horton, who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, picking up his third straight double-double and sixth of the season. Though the bulk of the scoring came from Horton, Shemik Thompson and Robbie Ptacek, every player for the Blue Devils contributed. All eleven players who entered the game scored for CCSU.
“We played forty minutes of complete basketball,” said Head Coach Howie Dickenman. “We have an identity of a defensive team and our guys did a good job of wreaking havoc and though everyone scored you can go back to Ken and Shemik for leading us to victory.”
The game began in typical CCSU fashion with the teams trading baskets until the Blue Devils’ grinding defense took over. The Mount (7-15) went over six minutes without a point in opening of the first half, allowing CCSU to build a comfortable lead.
Though the Mount was able to get a couple baskets and trim the lead to six, the team was unable to put together the type of run that would get them back in the game. The Blue Devils defense was as stingy as ever and stifled the Mount’s shooters all game.
Every shot the Mount took was contested, preventing the team from getting into any type of rhythm. CCSU, on the other hand, had no troubles on offense and seemed to score at will. Both Horton and Thompson finished the first half with 10 points and Ptacek had eight. If nobody else on CCSU scored, the lead at the half would have only been five. Unfortunately for the Mount, this was not the case, and halftime saw the NEC rivals trailing by a much larger margin.
“We had three goals coming into this game,” said Dickenman. “Defend the ball screen, defend the post and play pressure defense. We did a very good job with all three.”
The second half was more of the same as CCSU continued to dominate. The Blue Devils’ big three of Thompson, Horton and Ptacek continued to put in work and put the last nail in the coffin long before the final buzzer.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 25 points in this one sided affair and it wasn’t long until chants of “Alexander” rained down from the crowd. The fans got their wish, as both Justin Alexander and Mark Laporte, CCSU’s rarely used freshmen, were put into the game.
Despite the blow-out, both the fans and the Blue Devil’s bench erupted when both players were able to score in the final minute. It was a fitting way to end a game where everything went right for the Blue Devils.
“It was a good win, but we can’t rest on what’s been done,” said Dickenman. “We know that every game we have to improve.”
The win was the third in a row for the Blue Devils, who have now won eight of their last 10. CCSU is currently tied for second place in the NEC at 6-3 and are only one game out of first place, which is held by Long Island University.
The Blue Devils look to gain some ground when the team they’re tied for second with, Wagner, comes in on Saturday the 29th.