By Kenny Barto
Under the bright lights at Mohegan Sun Arena, the final game of the third annual Connecticut Six Classic brought a tough matchup of two even teams, as CCSU fell to Yale 73-69.
The Blue Devils were backed by strong efforts from freshman Kyle Vinales, who had 24 points, and Kenny Horton, who had 21 points and nine rebounds. Vinales’ strong performance in his CCSU debut also included him making six of 13 from the floor, and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
“It felt good,” Vinales said. “I got some open looks and it was good for me to go out and play like that.”
Blue Devils Head Coach Howie Dickenman was also pleased with Vinales’ performance, but pointed out that the freshman wasn’t too careful with the ball.
“[Vinales] had some good numbers,” he said. “One of which was seven turnovers, but we can live with that, he’s an aggressive player.”
CCSU got off to a fast start, leading 9-2 through three minutes of play. Their 1-3-1 zone defense put pressure on Yale’s guards, forcing them to adjust.
“I think we got off to a slow start,” said Yale Head Coach James Jones. “Their pressure was all over the place and we made mistakes. But, we were able to adjust as the game went on.”
The Blue Devils held the lead for the entire first half. Both teams fought against each other, as CCSU’s lead never grew to more than five points. The half ended at 34-30 and for Vinales, seven of his eight first-half points came in the first minute and a half of the game.
However, the second half was an entirely different story for CCSU. The Bulldogs went on a 20-3 run out of the gate while pressuring the Blue Devils to miss their first nine shots of the half.
“We came out flat in the second half and against good teams, you can’t do that,” Horton said. “They’ll take advantage and that’s what they did. They capitalized on our mistakes.”
Greg Mangano was one of the biggest forces for the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-10 senior had two big three-pointers and a slam dunk during their run, which lasted over the first seven minutes of the second half. Still, Mangano realized that the Blue Devils were a tough opponent.
“That’s a physical, aggressive, quick team,” he said. “We practiced and prepared for them all week.”
CCSU was able to go on a run of its own, however. Trailing the Bulldogs 67-59, the Blue Devils scored seven straight points including an acrobatic shot by Vinales. He drove into the lane, jumped and took the contact from Mangano. He was able to sink the shot off after he was fouled and he made the free throw to bring the score to 67-66 with 1:31 left.
With the score at 72-67, CCSU fouled Mangano to send him to the free throw line. He missed both shots as David Simmons grabbed the rebound and found Vinales on an outlet pass, who laid the ball in easily to bring the score to 72-69.
The Blue Devils forced the ball to Mangano again, who made one of two of his shots to bring the score to 73-69 with five seconds left. CCSU could not make a play, as Adonis Burbage threw the ball out of bounds to end the game.
“The real positive is that our freshman did a good job,” Dickenman said. “We like that, but we also need our veterans to step up.”
Horton, who enters the season with high hopes, shot just one of eight from three point range.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Dickenman said. “I don’t think he got open shots, but he got some good shots … I thought his shot was flat, which we’ve seen before.”
CCSU will play their first home game against Army on Saturday at 2 p.m., which will be the first of three out of conference home games. The other two will be UMBC on Nov. 22 and Hartford on Nov. 26.