St. Francis Rallies over Central Connecticut for 63-51 Win at Madison Square Garden

Shrugging off a slow start against a Central Connecticut State squad on a ten-game losing streak, the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s basketball team closed out the game on a 23-11 run to capture a 63-51 win Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Terriers ninth win in the past ten games.

“In the second half we were determined,“ St. Francis head coach Glenn Braica said about his team’s effort in holding the visiting Blue Devils to 17 points after intermission. “We just played harder with an edge to us.”

With the game tied at 40-all six minutes into the second half and CCSU center Brandon Peel benched with three fouls, Braica made the switch to a three-guard set to kick-start the Terrier offense. Guards Brent Jones, Tyreek Jewell and Glenn Sanabria, along with forwards Jalen Cannon and Amdy Fall, changed the tempo as St. Francis went on a 8-0 spurt, starting the decisive run to a sixth conference win that kept St. Francis (12-8; 6-1 NEC) at the top of the Northeast Conference (NEC).

The victory at the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Famous Arena” is Braica’s first as a head coach in four tries and St. Francis’ first Garden win since a 74-69 decision over Quinnipiac in the 2003 – 04 season—when the Terriers shared their lone NEC regular season title with Monmouth. In 34 years of play St. Francis has never won its conference tournament and is one of only four current NCAA Division I teams to never have qualified for the NCAA tournament.

As he has for three straight games—all Terrier victories—Jones registered 20 or more points, chipping in a game-high 22. Jones’ stellar play is gaining recognition: in leading his team to road victories last weekend at Robert Morris and St. Francis, PA, the senior point guard from Brooklyn captured NEC Player of the Week honors for only the second time in his career.

“He’s getting payback for all the hard work he put in during the off-season,” Braica said about his superb guard.

Jones—on track to be the first Terrier ever to score 1,000 points (he has 946) and hand out 500 assists (with 527 Jones is 8 away from breaking Greg Nunn’s program record of 534)—had ample help Wednesday from teammate Jalen Cannon. With 15 points and 6 rebounds, the senior is within 74 points and 23 rebounds of becoming only the second NEC player after Quinnipiac’s Justin Rutty to register 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds

The first half was anything but easy for St. Francis as Central Connecticut shot the lights out in its first time ever appearance at the Garden, . Sophomore Matt Mobley went 4 for 5 on three-point shots on his way to 14 first-half points as the Blue Devils hit on 6 of 8 treys to take a 34-30 lead into intermission. St. Francis also found the Garden’s rims to be extremely forgiving; the Terriers shot 61% for the half—and a season high 54% for the game—but still trailed.

In the second half, Cannon, Jones and Amdy Fall (4 blocks and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes) bottled up the Blue Devils as Mobley scored only three points on 1 of 6 shooting. CCSU (2-18; 0-7 NEC) shot only 27% on its way to an 11th straight loss.

Playing at Madison Square Garden clearly inspired the Terriers to excel in front of their loyal fans ahead of a tough home match-up this Saturday against Robert Morris.

“It means a lot to them to play in probably the greatest place in the world to play basketball,” Braica said about his players’ experience of the city’s basketball mecca.

Jones, who grew up going to games at Madison Square Garden, agreed. “Always wanted to play here since I was a little kid so to actually win here at the Garden is a great feeling.”

Pete Leibman, a 1971 St. Francis graduate who has been a Terrier fan since the late ‘60s was excited to be on hand to celebrate his team’s success.

“Everybody at the college is talking about the prospects for us this year,” said Leibman. “It’s a thrill for us to be here!”

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Randazzo for the Patch