By MATT STRAUB
Sports Editor

NEW BRITAIN — Some coaches and many fans are wired the same way. For the most competitive (or obsessed with their teams as the case may be), the bad losses always seem to hurt more than the good wins help.

For Central Connecticut’s fans, those losses have piled up in recent years. Monday night’s loss to Colgate came when Mike Venezia drilled a jumper in traffic from just to the right of the free throw line on the Detrick Gymnasium floor. It was roughly the same spot from which Landy Thompson gave Mount St. Mary’s a win over the Blue Devils four years ago. Both shots were taken right next to the free throw line that Darnell Harris used to make two free throws with no time left in the fourth overtime the day LaSalle and a quick whistle stole one in New Britain.

It’s not just places that people remember, but times. Ask a Blue Devil fan about the number 0.8. That’s how long it took Rob Monroe (again, if you believe the officials). Another Quinnipiac Bobcat (and former Blue Devil for that matter) DeMario Anderson broke Central’s heart with a half-court heave on what should be remembered as Tristan Blackwood’s Senior Day.

Those are just the recent home losses at the horn itself. That doesn’t count brutal defeats on the road like last year’s game at St. Francis (PA) or the 2005 NEC tournament at Monmouth or games that were decided in the final moments before the clock read zero.

Yes, the loss to Colgate will sting, or “fester,” as CCSU coach Howie Dickenman said after the game. It will take its place on the negative side of Central’s storied basketball history that goes back to 1934 (the Blue Devils lost four games by a single point that year if you were wondering). But what matters for the present group of Blue Devils is not what happened in the past but what comes from it.

The best cure for Central’s freshest wound would be a big road win. Today, the Blue Devils get the chance to stop the bleeding.

CCSU travels to Albany tonight (7 p.m. ESPN Radio 1410), which could be the perfect place to start the road back to good health. CCSU has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with the Great Danes, including 10 in a row before last year’s overtime loss at Detrick Gym. Again, circumstances got in the way of history as the loss overshadowed CCSU raising its 2007 NEC Championship banner during its home opener.

Of course it will take more than just a particular opponent to cure Central’s ills. The Blue Devils (0-2) will need to improve their offensive consistency as well as their free throw shooting if they want to earn their first win of the year tonight.

“We work on our free throws a lot,” CCSU forward Ken Horton said. “(Monday night) we just weren’t hitting them. We just have to concentrate on making them when it comes down to it in the game.”

Central was 12-for-22 that night. Robby Ptacek was 6-for-6, meaning the rest of the team was just 6-for-16 at the charity stripe. One thing Central did well was avoid letting the other team get to the line. Central, which committed the fewest fouls of any team in the country last year, sent Colgate to the line just five times Monday night.

If the Blue Devils can score on offense, free throws won’t be as important tonight. CCSU ran well in the second half on Monday, showing what it can do when it rebounds and turns the game into a series of fast breaks. The problem has been when Central is forced to slow the game down.

Sophomore Shemik Thompson (12 points. 5.5 assists per game) is developing into a solid point guard, but Dickenman admits the offense can still be a “grind” early in the season. When the Devils do become grinders, look for them to try and get the ball to Horton, who is averaging 19.5 points a night and six rebounds. That can come later in the shot clock. Central has had a tendency to rush some shots at times so far this year, and Dickenman would like to see the Blue Devils work the ball around more efficently.

“When we take our time on offense better looks open up and that gives guys the opportunity to make shots,” Horton said. “I think playing more intense defense, taking our time on offense, is what we need to do.”

That defense will be working against an Albany (1-2) team that doesn’t have a single dominant scorer. Sophomore guard Tim Ambrose had 24 points in the Danes’ win over Bryant, but his season average of 10.7 points a game leads the team. Albany returns three starters from last year’s team that went 9-7 in the America East, but features eight first-year players on its roster. Chief among them is Will Harris, a transfer from Virginia, and freshman Anthony Raffa, last year’s New Jersey high school player of the year.

Those are the players who could give Central its next heartbreak. But perhaps it’s time for a Blue Devil to put another mark on the positive side of Central’s buzzer-beater history.

Perhaps this is the night Horton or Thompson puts his name next to Justin Chiera, Bryan Finley and Richard Ijeh.

Whether it’s a one-point win or a blowout, this much is certain: Central Connecticut could use a reason to feel good about itself tonight. After another case of buzzer syndrome, the Blue Devils could use the best possible medicine. CCSU needs a win.