The Central Connecticut State University men’s basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak on Saturday and got their first Northeast Conference victory of the season with a win over Wagner College behind three career nights. This marks the Blue Devils first win against a Division I opponent as they won 86-76 over the Seahawks.

The Blue Devils got off to a hot start in the first half, jumping out to an early 18-9 lead. Sophomore Ian Krishnan scored 15 points in the first half,  all from three-pointers and finished the game with a team-high 18 points. He also had three rebounds and one assist.

Krishnan and his coach recognized that his open looks were a result of moving the ball. The Blue Devils had a season-low seven turnovers while recording 20 assists as a team.

“It was more about our ball movement, the ball kept finding the right person,” Krishnan said. “In the first half, I was on the receiving end of that and in the second half a lot of my teammates were on the receiving end.”

“We had 20 assists to 7 turnovers, that’s the first thing that probably stands out,” head coach Donyell Marshall said. “I think the team played for each other today, the ball moved it didn’t stick.”

After Central’s good start to the game, the Seahawks then went on to score 14 unanswered points to take a 34-29 and held a five-point lead at halftime.

CCSU did not get discouraged, however, and started the second half with six straight unanswered points to take a 37-36 lead.

Freshman guard Jamir Reed led the way in the second half with 15 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Tyler Rowe hit a big three-pointer to tie the game with 13:47 left to play. A few possessions later Reed hit a foul shot that gave Central a 48-47 lead. From there on, the Blue Devils would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Reed was Central’s second-leading scorer on the night with 17 points, a career-high for the freshman. He also tied his career highs in rebounds and assists with eight and four respectively to complete his well-rounded performance.

Rowe finished with a career-high as well, 12 points. He added three rebounds and four assists.

As a team, the Blue Devils made 30 out of 68 (44.1 percent) shots from the field and hit 11 out of 24 three-pointers (45.8 percent). The Blue Devils knocked down 15 out of 21 shots from the free-throw line, including going 6 for 7 down the stretch to close out the Seahawks.

Four Blue Devils finished the game with double-digit points. Krishnan, Reed, Rowe and forward Karrington Wallace was the fourth. Wallace scored a career-high 13 points, collected seven rebounds, registered an assist and one block while also blocking four shots.

Central’s bench outscored Wagner’s 41-11 with strong contributions from Reed and Rowe as well as freshman guard Myles Baker who added 8 points.

Coming off this conference win over Wagner, the Blue Devils will look to build momentum for the remainder of the season.

“When you have a young team, they need to see that first win especially against an opponent that’s in their conference or they’re comparable to. Looking at the smiles on their faces they see that they can win they see that they can play,” Marshall said.

The Blue Devils go on the road for a rematch against the Saint Francis University Red Flash on Thursday. The Red Flash defeated the Blue Devils 93-69 in their first matchup this season, but Central looks to split the series this season before trying to do the same against Robert Morris University two days later.