By Chris McLaughlin
The CCSU men’s basketball team continued its strong home stand with a 61-43 defeat of St. Francis (NY) on Jan 6.
The Blue Devils were led by Robby Ptacek, who finished with 25 points, as they rolled over NEC rival St. Francis. Following the win, CCSU improved to 9-5 (2-1 NEC).
“So another win. A boring win, but that’s ok if the last word is win,“ said Dickenman
Coming off the dominating performance against UMass, the Blue Devils got out to another quick start. The team jumped up by 10 and never looked back. The only time St. Francis had the lead was when it was 2-0.
Ptacek remained on fire from the UMass victory and once again couldn’t miss. He scored 14 first half points on 6 of 8 shooting and propelled the Blue Devils to a 37-21 lead at half time.
CCSU once again played lockdown defense and smothered the St. Francis shooters, holding them to 25 percent from the field and 2 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Blue Devils also got first half contributions from Joe Efese, who scored eight points and had three blocks, and Ken Horton, who also had eight points and collected six rebounds for the half.
“Robby’s been shooting the ball so well,” said Dickenman. “He has the confidence, so we as coaches feel comfortable when he takes shots. “
Although the Blue Devils had an excellent first half, CCSU wasn’t as sharp in the second. The team shot only 33 percent and committed 11 turnovers. Though CCSU struggled on offense, it kept up the defensive intensity and maintained a 20 point lead for much of the half.
For the second straight half, the Blue Devils held St. Francis to under 25 percent from the field as the Blue Devils continued to contest every shot. CCSU stayed aggressive on the defensive end, and were rewarded with foul calls from the refs. The Blue Devils committed 13 fouls in the second half allowing St. Francis to collect 10 points on free-throws.
“It was the tale of two halves,” said Dickenman. “The first was crisp and exciting and the second never had a flow. It wasn’t as clean, too many fouls and turnovers, but we were working hard on the defensive end, so I am more positive from a defensive point of view.”
While the Blue Devils struggled from the field, Ptacek scored 11 more in the second half to help pace CCSU. He led all scorers with 25 and was only one of two players with more than 10 points.
“Seeing the ball go in is the best thing for me,” said Ptacek. “I always say our defense is our best offense and we’ve been playing lockdown so it really keeps our confidence up.”
Horton grabbed eight more rebounds to help prevent St. Francis from getting second chance points and getting back in the game. He finished with 14 for the game, and also scored two more points in the second half to pick up the double-double.
“We brought the pressure on defense and caused them to miss a lot so I was able to get rebounds,” said Horton. “When we play half-court defense the way we did, it shows we can really keep our poise.”
The Blue Devils will move on to play Long Island University on Saturday Jan. 8th. It will be the final game of the six game home-stand that has seen CCSU win the first five.
“We have got our work cut out for us against LIU, but were looking forward to the challenge,” said Dickenman.
The Blue Devils are looking to pick up its sixth straight win on Saturday and gain some ground in the NEC.