Central’s men’s basketball team celebrated Senior Day by defeating Stonehill College at home in their regular season finale, 79-67.
With this win and help from a Merrimack loss to Sacred Heart, the Blue Devils finished first in the Northeast Conference for the first time since 2007.
The first half started out tight, with both teams scoring back and forth. Central began to pull away in the last five minutes as they went on a 19-0 run to close out the half.
Junior Jayden Brown was the star of the first half, as he led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting 6-of-8, and going 2-for-2 from three-point range. He also had four rebounds and an assist.
“They kept backing off,” Brown said. “I heard the coach say, ‘back up, he can’t shoot,’ so I was just shooting the ball.”
Central led the rest of the game to close it out for the win. Stonehill put up a 15-point run to get within single digits, but Central answered.
“At the time, we went to zone, and on offense, we ran a couple of full-speed offensive plays,” head coach Patrick Sellers said.
Brown finished the game as the leading rebounder with eight and tied for the lead in scoring with graduate student Allan Jeanne-Rose, both with 19. Senior Jordan Jones led the team in assists with seven.
“I try to pride myself on defense the whole season,” Brown said. “That’s what gets me going.”
Central also honored its seniors pregame. Kellen Amos, Tre Breland, and Allan Jeanne-Rose all received a bouquet of flowers and a framed jersey. Zain Huseini, a team manager, was also honored.
Central also took a moment before the game to acknowledge Jones after he scored his 1,000th career point in his previous game against Long Island University.
Central will host their first-round game of the Northeast Conference tournament on Wednesday night against Saint Francis University.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Sellers said. “The last time I was in the tournament, I was the assistant coach. We won the championship and go to the NCAA Tournament. The crowd was great, and the energy in the building. Hopefully, we have that type of energy. Our guys have to get out and defend, rebound, and share the ball on offense.”
