Press release;
Saturday’s game will be the second in a five-game Queens homestand to open the season. The Johnnies last started a campaign with five or more consecutive games on campus in 2005-06.
Central Connecticut comes to Queens on the heels of a 74-59 loss to Hartford in the team’s home opener on Tuesday. The Blue Devils trailed by only three at halftime before the Hawks pulled away late.
Both of the Blue Devils to finish in double figures were freshmen, as Greg Outlaw and Jamir Reed scored 13 points apiece. Overall, seven of the 15 players on the Central Connecticut roster are in their first year of collegiate basketball.
The Blue Devils are coached by 1994 BIG EAST Player of the Year and 15-year NBA veteran Donyell Marshall.
Bryan Heron, the father of St. John’s senior Mustapha Heron, starred at CCSU for four years from 1985-89. He scored 1,558 points during his playing days in New Britain, good enough for ninth on the program’s all-time scoring list.
St. John’s is 2-0 all-time against Central Connecticut, including an 80-55 win over the Blue Devils two seasons ago at Carnesecca Arena. The lone other meeting between CCSU and the Johnnies etched the Blue Devils in the St. John’s record books, as Malik Sealy scored 43 points in 135-92 victory on Nov. 24, 1990. Those 135 points are the highest single-game total in program history while Sealy’s 43 points stood as a Carnesecca Arena/Alumni Hall mark for nearly three decades before Ponds netted 44 against Marquette on Feb. 10, 2018.
After hosting the Blue Devils, St. John’s will return to action on Tuesday night when it welcome the University of New Hampshire to Carnesecca Arena.