By Christopher McLaughlin
It was the tale of two halves as the CCSU men’s basketball team (14-7) withstood Wagner’s (10-11) furious onslaught to come out on top 75-71.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 24 points, but went ice cold from the field in the second half, which spurred Wagner‘s comeback. Robbie Ptacek led all scores with 25 points, and went 10-10 from the foul line to save the Blue Devils from its second home loss of the year. Before the game, CCSU was tied with Wagner for second place in the NEC. Now the Blue Devils are in sole possession of second place, and are only one game out of first.
“We were fortunate to make our free throws, because we only played 30 minutes of basketball,” said Head Coach Howie Dickenman. “I’m disappointed with how we played, but I’m glad we won. I know that we will be better from this.”
Though Wagner got off to a 6-0 run, CCSU’s pressure defense soon took over. Even the first few baskets were all heavily contested, as the Blue Devils came out determined to shut down its NEC rival early. Ptacek caught fire on offense and it wasn’t long until CCSU caught up and tied the game.
The Blue Devils continued to harass Wagner’s shooters causing them to miss everything, and CCSU capitalized, gaining a double digit lead. During the first half, it appeared that Wagner just couldn’t handle the defensive pressure or match the Blue Devils intensity. Though Shemik Thompson took a while to get going offensively, there wasn’t a person on the court who played harder. Thompson was dominate on the boards snatching up everything that came his way, finishing the half with eight rebounds, leading both teams. Even on defense it appeared that Thompson was everywhere doing what the coach loves most: creating havoc.
The first half ended with the Blue Devils up 44-27 and the game seemed over. Wagner just didn’t seem to want it as much as CCSU.
“We played terrific in the first half,” said Dickenman. “Ptacek opened up on fire, and I’m very pleased with the play from Joe Efese and Chris Baskerville.”
Despite trailing big, Wagner came out of halftime with a new found intensity and appeared determined not to just roll over. However, the Blue Devils hadn’t gone into coast mode just yet and still made Wagner work. CCSU still brought the pressure on defense and forced turnovers that they were able to convert into points on the other end. Efese had his way down low and Ken Horton started to pick it up.
Things were still going well for the Blue Devils and its victory seemed assured. Then all of a sudden, as if somebody just flipped a switch, all of the intensity, pressure and focus for CCSU was turned off . The teams reversed roles and CCSU was thrust into an unfamiliar position. Instead of bringing the pressure on defense the pressure was brought to them and they struggled mightily from the field, going almost 15 minutes without a field goal.
“We felt like we had the game in our hands,” said Ptacek. “We got too comfortable and lost control. We played to not lose rather than to win.”
The 20 point lead dwindled quickly and Wagner kept attacking. Led by Tyler Murray, who had 19 second half points, Wagner brought the lead down to as little as four. Though CCSU was severely limited on offense the players continued to get fouled and go to the line, making 18 of 21. If it wasn’t for free throws the lead would have vanished completely. A game like this adds meaning to the term charity stripe. Wagner continued to attack down to the final second, but CCSU had done enough to hold on.
“In the second half we lost our offensive aggressiveness,” said Dickenman. “Other teams haven’t pressured us much and we weren’t ready for it. What they did to us is what we do to other teams. We were fortunate to survive their onslaught, but the bottom line is we still won.”
The Blue Devils have now won four straight, and will look to use that momentum, when they go to Pennsylvania to play the next two games before returning home to face Bryant on February 9th.