Kellen Tynes had 23 points, and Gedi Juozapaitis added 22 more on Wednesday afternoon as the Maine Black Bears defeated the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 66-58 in a men’s basketball game played at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, Connecticut.
Both teams shot 50% or better in the first half, but it was points off turnovers that allowed Maine to take a lead. Central Connecticut State turned it over 14 times over the first 20 minutes, leading to a 21-5 Black Bears advantage on points off miscues. The 14 first half turnovers for CCSU was the most in a game so far this season. The guests trailed just once early on 8-7, but 14 points by Juozapaitis helped build a 34-20 lead at one point on a Jaden Clayton layup. The Blue Devils would end the half on a 10-2 run to slice the deficit to just six at 36-30 at the break.
Maine scored the first five points of the second half to extend the lead back to 11, before Central Connecticut State pushed back with a 10-2 run capped off with a Joe Ostrowky steal and layup to make it 43-40. The Blue Devils tied it twice on a pair of Jayden Brown free throws, and then again at 47-47 on a layup by Devonte Sweatman with 10:53 left to play. Tynes had a layup for the Black Bears 39 seconds later, and Maine would lead for good from there on out. After CCSU once again sliced it to just two on a three-pointer by Kellen Amos with 1:42 remaining, the Bears scored the final six points on 4-4 from the line by Tynes and a Juozapaitis layup to help finish off their fourth straight win. Along with the free throws, the last 1:42 also included a Tynes steal and an assist on the Juozapaitis basket.
Tynes filled up the stat sheet with his game high in points and also adding three rebounds, three assists, five steals, and two blocks. Juozapaitis added four rebounds and four steals to his 22 points in the win for Maine. Amos led CCSU in the loss with 13 points, while Sweatman and Brown both had 11. The Blue Devils, out of the Northeast Conference, fall to 0-6. The hosts ended up with 20 turnovers, and the Black Bears won the points off turnover battle by a final margin of 32-16. Maine (4-1) will be on the road at Brown University on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
