WEST HAVEN, Conn. – New Haven Men's Basketball dropped a Thursday night home game to the Central Connecticut Blue Devils, 81-76. Darin Smith Jr. finished with a game-high 40 points in the Blue Devils' win.

A back-and-forth game seemed to find its winner when Central went from down by four to up by 10 in the final minutes of the first half. New Haven would keep it close, but never fully recovered to take the lead during the second half, despite outscoring Central, 43-40, in the final 20 minutes.

Jabri Fitzpatrick (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) finished with 20 points, the third time he's eclipsed the mark this season, while playing the role of set-up man, dishing out six assists. Maison Adeleye (Arlington, Tx./Juan Seguin) finished with a season-high 15 points and added three steals. Stefano Faloppa (Portogruaro, Italy/Holy Cross Prep) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

New Haven shot a healthy 45.5% (25-55) from the field and only missed one of its 22 free-throw attempts for a 95.5% conversion rate from the line.

The Blue & Gold finished with 19 points off CCSU turnovers, got 22 points off the bench, and 34 points in the paint.

New Haven returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 14, as it hosts LIU. Opening tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, and Coach Hotaling and the program will recognize the contributions from the Class of 2026.