Central Connecticut men’s basketball team went into the locker room Friday and Saturday with a lead on the scoreboard and two elusive wins a mere 20 minutes away. In those closing 20 minutes, the Blue Devils were outscored 94-59.

The flaws that plagued the Blue Devils in their losses this season were seemingly wiped away against Saint Francis University Friday. Central Connecticut was ranked last in the Northeast Conference in opponent’s three-point field goal percentage but held the Red Flash to an abysmal 18.2 percentage from beyond the arc in the first half.

Ian Krishnan and Myles Baker led the charge offensively, as each of them sank four threes in the first half. Since Krishnan’s return to the lineup over winter break, he’s shot a team-best 45 percent from three.

The Blue Devils have played 22 halves of basketball in NEC play. Krishnan and Baker’s scoring surge against SFU is only the fourth half where multiple players scored in double figures.

Krishnan finished the game with a team-high 18 points on 5/13 shooting. Baker finished as the second-leading scorer for the Blue Devils with 16 points. He completed a well-rounded game by adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Guards Trey Tennyson and Greg Outlaw also scored in double figures, with 15 and 10 respectively. Terryson scored all of his points in only 11 minutes of game action and 5/7 shooting from the field.

While closing out on defense, the Blue Devils were also lighting it up the floor. Nine of CCSU’s 12 attempted threes in the first half fell, which helped them jump out to a 20 point lead heading into the second half.

Then the pendulum sharply swung the other way in the second. The stout shooting from Central was wiped away, as they sunk only two of their 13 attempted threes in the second (15.4 percent).

Four of the Red Flash’s five starters scored in double figures in the second half, with guard Ramiir Dixon-Conover shooting a perfect five-of-five from the field.

SFU only ran five deep in the second half (apart from one minute given to a bench player) while Central was quick to make substitutions in the second.

While CCSU’s game against SFU was a tale of two halves, their game with Robert Morris was a much more back-and-forth affair.

Neither team was able to get going offensively to start, but freshman guard Jamir Reed scored eight in the first to lead both teams. Central stuck with the hot hand in the second, as Reed piled in 11 more to give him a career-high 19 points as the final buzzer rang.

The rest of the Blue Devils were unable to get much done offensively, with no one else scoring in double figures. Walk-on senior Tyler Rowe played a chippy brand of defense in his 26 minutes on the floor, stealing the ball away four times. Rowe is tied for first on the team with 1.1 steals a night.

CCSU was within one late, but was outscored 15-6 in the final seven minutes, leading to a 64-57 loss.

The Blue Devils will continue to fight for their second win on the road as they travel to Bryant this weekend. After their three-game road stint is finished, CCSU will be back at home for three straight games against LIU, Bryant and Fairleigh Dickinson.