Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
Jones has 24, CCSU edges UMass Lowell 76-73 (Dec 23, 2017)
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils

Jones has 24, CCSU edges UMass Lowell 76-73 (Dec 23, 2017)

Published Dec. 23, 2017 3:26 p.m. ET

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) Mustafa Jones scored a career-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Central Connecticut State got a partial block on a last-second shot to hold on for a 76-73 win over UMass Lowell on Saturday.

Both teams had miscues down the stretch, particularly from the foul line. Tyler Kohl's hesitation drive put the Blue Devils (7-6) up 74-71 with 1:12 to play but Jahad Thomas quickly answered for the River Hawks (6-6) with 57.4 seconds to go.

CCSU played down the clock but were forced into a long 3-pointer by Austin Nehls and teammate Eric Bowles corralled the long rebound. That forced a foul but Ness only made 1 of 2with 25.2 seconds to play. Lowell elected to play it out but had a turnover trying to get the ball inside. That led to Kohl going to the line with 5.2 seconds remaining and he also missed his first free throw. Matt Harris had a chance to tie but his shot from the right wing never made it the rim.

Thomas had 21 points and Noel scored a career-high 19 for the River Hawks, combining to shoot 15 of 19. Josh Gantz had a career-high eight assists to go with nine points and three blocks.

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Lowell missed six free throws and CCSU five in the second half of the evenly played game that had 12 ties and 12 lead changes.

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