WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior guard Jeremy Williams (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) posted his first career double-double and led the University of New Haven men’s basketball team to a 68-44 victory over Queens College (N.Y.) Sunday afternoon at Charger Gymnasium. New Haven improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Knights dropped to 0-4 on the year.
New Haven jumped out to an early 10-point lead at Chargers Gymnasium, and never looked back. In the first five minutes, Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) connected on a pair of long-range shots, pushing New Haven ahead 14-4. Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) then sparked a 12-4 run over the next seven minutes to give the Chargers an 18-point lead, 26-8 at the 8:02 mark. Mark Palmieri (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) capped the run with a three-point field goal from the deep right corner. New Haven led by no fewer than 16 points in the final minutes of the first half and opened its largest lead in the final minute. Adkins connected on a jumper with nine second left and put UNH ahead 36-14 at the break.
The Chargers led 23-11 on the boards in the first period, and 9-1 in assists. New Haven also shot 46.7-percent from the floor, while holding the Knights to 28.6-percent shooting. Sophomore forward Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) paced the chargers with 10 rebounds and six points, while Williams added nine points.
The second half was all New Haven as well. Williams drained a trey and UNH jumped out to a 27-point, 47-20, lead just under four minutes into the second half. The Chargers lead remained more than 20 points for nearly the entire half, but the Knights went on a 8-0 run midway through the stanza and cut New Haven’s lead back to 18 points with 8:39 left. New Haven’s next basket, a three-pointer from Exum, put the Chargers ahead by 20 for good with 6:51 left. The momentum carried the Chargers to a 28-point lead with under two minutes left and the Chargers closed out the 24-point victory with a pair of Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) free throws down the stretch.
Williams shot a blistering 70-percent from the floor and went 4-for-4 at the line, scoring a game-high 20 points. He grabbed eight defensive rebounds and two offensive boards for the double-double. Exum added 16 points off 5-of-13, including 4-of-9 from long range, while Anderson led the team with 15 rebounds.
The Chargers hit the boards hard and led 44-28 on the boards. The Chargers also led 13-5 in second chance points. As a team, New Haven shot 41.1-percent from the floor, 36.4-percent from the three-point range and 87.5-percent from the charity stripe.
