The Central Connecticut State University men’s basketball team started off the season with a 59-55 loss on the road against Providence College on Monday, Nov. 4. 

Going into the game, the Blue Devils were undersized but started off playing fundamentally sound defense and denying the bigs inside. With Providence’s height advantage, they came out of the gate applying pressure on both guards, Joe Ostrowsky and Jordan Jones.  

They both did a great job taking care of the ball and using the full court pressure to their advantage by attacking the hoop, moving the ball around and taking pull up mid-range shots. 

Forward Jayden Brown, who had limited playing time due to early foul trouble, did a great job of moving around the perimeter, keeping the bigs moving and going downhill to get a tough finish around the rim. Within the first half of the game, Central made Providence turn the ball over 11 times, which lead to 8 fastbreak points.   

Forward Abdul Momoh and the rest of the team did a great job of crashing the boards and boxing out in the first half. Momoh also had a ferocious block to close out the half strong. Jones ended the half leading the team with 15 points.   

The second half of the game started off gritty with players crashing the boards, diving on the floor to make plays and playing hard.  

Ostrowsky and Momoh worked well together off of the pick and roll, with both players scoring a few times to keep Central in control of the game.  

The Blue Devils continued to play great defense for the majority of the half, but a few broken plays and early fouls allowed Providence to stay in the game.  

Central guard Devin Haid was a spark, making a couple of tough shots to keep the Blue Devils ahead, followed by Jones getting a late bucket and Ostrowsky playing great defense late in the half.  

However, it wouldn’t be enough to maintain the lead as Providence would go on a 10-2 run in the last 2 minutes of the game as the Blue Devils struggled to score, resulting in a hard-fought loss with the score being 59-55.   

With the loss, the Blue Devils fell to 0-1 on the season. They are on the road again for their next game against Saint Joesph’s University on Friday, Nov. 8.