The CCSU Blue Devils defeated the Saint Francis Red Flash in a down-to-the-wire 69-64 matchup on Feb. 28 to close out the 2025-26 Northeast Conference regular season. This was a rematch of the 2025 NEC championship, where the Red Flash upset the Blue Devils and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Before the game, seniors Nico Ashley, Melo Sanchez, Ja’kobe Williams and Jay Rodgers were all recognized for their contributions to Central. Unfortunately, Williams was unable to play, as he is still dealing with a back injury that has held him out since December.
Sophomore forward Darin Smith Jr. led the Blue Devils, scoring 22 points and seven rebounds. Sanchez couldn’t find his 3-point shot but still scored 13 points and contributed in other ways, pulling in three rebounds and stealing the ball three times. Junior forward Max Frazier added 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
In honor of Senior Day, Ashley got his first start of the season. He helped Central set the tone, scoring four of the first eight points in the first five minutes of the game. He was a mainstay in the rotation to start the year, but as the season dwindled down, his minutes decreased. He also dealt with a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss a couple of weeks.
After the game, Central head coach Pat Sellers said that he had a message for Ashley.
“I just said to Nico in the locker room in front of the guys [that] I’m apologizing because he should be playing,” he said.
Sellers said that Smith has been such a high-level player at the four position that it was hard to find minutes for Ashley, and then once he suffered his injury, it really set him back.
Even though he hasn’t played much recently, Sellers still praised Ashley.
“Nico’s a super athletic guy. He can make 3s. He can drive the ball,” he said. “I think he can have a career in Europe playing professionally.”
Both teams were tied at 15 halfway into the first half. In the next six minutes, CCSU went on a 13-4 run. Saint Francis went on its own run to cut the deficit and got the score to 32-29 by the end of the half, down only by three. Smith and Sanchez led the Blue Devils with six points each. Smith also added three rebounds. James Jones and Ashley also contributed, as they combined for nine points and five rebounds.
Sellers’ focus during halftime was all about defense. His No. 1 key for his guys was transition defense, and in their half-court defense, they have to switch because of how quick Saint Francis’ guards are.
He also mentioned that they needed to stay down on shot fakes.
“They’re probably the best shot-faking team in the league,” he said. “Max went for a couple shot fakes, Jay, James, they all went for a couple shot fakes.”
Central came out guns blazing, going on an 8-0 run to start the second half, but just like in the first half, Saint Francis answered with a 24-6 run to take a 53-46 lead with 9:30 remaining.
With the Blue Devils down 56-50 with 7:38 remaining, Darin Smith took over, scoring the next nine points for Central to help them only trail by one.
CCSU retook the lead off a Sanchez one-dribble pull-up midrange jumper. It was Central’s first lead since the 13:38 mark of the second half.
After the shot, the crowd was the loudest it had been all day, with every Blue Devil fan chanting “Defense.”
No one scored until Smith stepped up to the free throw line and knocked down two free throws to give CCSU a 67-64 lead with 55 seconds remaining.
On the next possession, Central forced Saint Francis to turn the ball over out of bounds. The Red Flash were able to set up their full-court press and forced Central to turn the ball right back over with 28 seconds left.
Saint Francis called a timeout to set up a play, but it did not matter because Central played lockdown defense for 30 seconds and forced a shot-clock violation. The Red Flash had no choice but to foul, and Smith knocked down two free throws to put the game out of reach.
From the 7:22 mark of the second half, Smith scored 13 of the last 19 points for CCSU. He attributes his takeover to the belief that the people around him have in him.
“My coach and my teammates believe in me to make the right plays on offense,” he said. “We ran a new play today and got it done.”
On Feb. 26, Rodgers became the all-time Division I assist leader in a season in Blue Devil history, but in this game he became only the second player in CCSU history to have at least 200. He talked about what it was like to reach those milestones after all he has been through.
“This year was big after sitting out the last two years,” he said. “It’s big to see how far I’ve come getting that record.”
Both Rodgers and Sanchez were glad to play in front of their family on senior day. Rodgers’ parents came from Ohio, so even though he thought he didn’t have a great game, he was just glad to get a win in front of them.
Smith, Rodgers and Sanchez are all ready for the playoffs and can’t wait to play in the atmospheres. They don’t care about the stats. They just want to win an NEC championship.
Smith and Frazier were both recognized on March 2 for their efforts against Mercyhurst on Feb. 26 and Saint Francis. Smith was named NEC Player of the Week after averaging 23 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field and 50% from 3-point range. Frazier was named a Prime Performer for the conference, averaging 13.5 points, nine rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 77% from the field.
The Blue Devils clinched the No. 2 seed on Feb. 26 with an 80-78 win against the Mercyhurst Lakers and will host the No. 7 seed Wagner Seahawks on March 4 in the quarterfinals of the NEC Tournament. Central swept Wagner 2-0 in the regular season, winning 62-55 on the road and 84-67 at home. If the Blue Devils defeat the Seahawks, they will also have home-court advantage for the semifinals and potentially have a chance to host the NEC championship for the second year in a row if they are the highest seed remaining.
