Central Connecticut Takes Fairleigh Dickinson Men’s Basketball, 83-65
Hammond scores 17 for Knights.

Box Score

Hackensack, N.J. – Northeast Conference (NEC) leader Central Connecticut State University defeated Fairleigh Dickinson University in men’s basketball action tonight at the Rothman Center, 83-65. The Knights, led by senior forward Matt Hammond’s (Burlington, N.J.) 17 points and six rebounds, fell to 4-23 overall and 4-14 in NEC play. Four players scored in double-digits for the Blue Devils, led by Ron Robinson (Bronx, N.Y.) who netted 15 points as they improved to 22-4 overall and 17-1 in league play with their 14^th straight win.

            The Blue Devils led from start to finish, building a 37-22 lead at the half.  Ricardo Scott (Boston, Mass.) netted 11 of his 14 points for Central Connecticut in the first frame, giving them five during a 12-3 run to close it out.  Fairleigh Dickinson shot 47.1 percent in the session, but turned it over 13 times.

            The Blue Devils put the game away for good with a 17-5 spurt to pull ahead 69-37, their largest lead of the game, with 6:57 left.  Robinson capped the run with seven points. Fairleigh Dickinson closed the gap to 18 with 23 seconds left behind the play of Hammond, who netted eight of his game-high 17 points in the final 6:57, but it wasn’t enough.

Central Connecticut shot a blistering 59 percent from the field in the second half and forced a total of 24 Fairleigh Dickinson turnovers for the game.  Robinson hit on 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-3 at the charity stripe.  Rich Pittman (Braintree, Mass.) also contributed 14 points for the Blue Devils.

            Hammond finished 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 at the free-throw line. T.J. Leis (Philadelphia, Pa.) chipped in 10 points for the Knights.

            Fairleigh Dickinson will play its last home game of the season on Saturday, February 23^rd, as they host Long Island at 7pm on Senior Night.