Central Connecticut Holds Off Brown
Friday, November 16, 2012
Kyle Vinales is a patient man.
The Central Connecticut sophomore guard led all freshman throughout the country last season in scoring averaging 19 points per game. Heading into the Blue Devils home opener against Brown Thursday night, he was averaging a team-best 21 points per game.
The Bears did a terrific job defensively against Vinales in the first half limiting him to just four points. But Vinales did not force the issue.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTInstead, the sophomore remained patient and as Brown battled back from a 19-point second half deficit to trim the Blue Devils lead to 4, that's when Vinales took over. He scored 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to lead Central Connecticut to an 86-71 victory.
Brown trailed 45-30 at the break despite a strong first half from freshman Cedric Kuakumensah who scored all of his career high 9 points before the break.
After two quick buckets to open the second half, Central had its largest lead at 49-30. That's when the Bears came to life.
Thanks to the sharp-shooting of junior forward Tucker Halpern (15 points), Brown cut the deficit to 67-63 with just under 8 minutes to play.
Halpern, who hadn't played in a game since March of 2011 due to a long illness, came off the bench firing nailing 4 of his first 5 attempts from long range. He finished shooting 5-10 from three.
Brown was led for the second straight game by Matt Sullivan's team-high 18 points. Sophomore Rafael Maia had a career high 14 points and 5 rebounds while Sean McGonagill chipped in with 11.
The win was Central's first of the year as they improve to (1-2). Brown suffered its first setback falling to (1-1) on the season.
Saturday night the Bears travel to Orono, Maine to take on the Black Bears. Tip off is scheduled for 7pm.
