NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Trailing by two points midway through the second half, the University of New Haven men’s basketball team ripped off a 22-4 run to storm into the lead then held off host Southern Connecticut State for a 73-70 victory on Saturday afternoon at Moore Field House. With the win over their crosstown and Northeast-10 rival, the Chargers have clinched a top-four seed and a guaranteed home game in the quarterfinal round of the upcoming NE-10 Championship.
In addition to securing a postseason home game, New Haven (18-7, 15-6 NE-10) completed a home-and-home regular season sweep of the Owls (16-9, 13-9) for the first time of the 2009-10 season. The Chargers’ 18 wins are the program’s most since 2003-04 (21-9), while their 15 NE-10 wins are the squad’s most since 2002-03 (17-7 in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference).
All six Chargers who scored reached double figures, led by 15 points from Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway). Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) had 12 points in addition to 12 rebounds to complete his 16th double-double of the season. Eight of the dozen from Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) came consecutively during New Haven’s game-clinching run, while Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) matched his season best with 12 tallies off the bench. Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) and Jeremy Williams (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) netted 11 points each to round out the Charger scoring.
The first half featured eight ties, and neither team led by more than five points during the game’s opening 20 minutes. After back-to-back scores by Anderson and Williams gave the Chargers a 29-25 lead, the Owls struck last with an old-fashioned three-point play from Trevon Hamlet to cut the halftime margin to 29-28 in favor of New Haven.
The tightly-contested affair continued in the second half as the Owls reclaimed the lead, 42-40, with 12:28 remaining in the game. Adkins followed with a deep three-pointer to put the Chargers back on top, 43-42, for what would prove to be the game’s 12th and final lead change.
The run, which included four points from James, extended to 9-0 and forced an SCSU timeout. Though a Hamlet layup ended the Owls’ scoring drought, the Chargers continued their offensive spurt. The next eight points all went to Exum, who drained back-to-back three-pointers and then a mid-range jumper. In total, New Haven put together a 22-4 run over a span of 6:54, to run their lead to 62-46 with 5:34 to play. After DePass’ three-point play capped the run, the Owls made a final push. The home team cut the margin as low as six points, but four late DePass free throws kept the Chargers on top. The Owls banked in a meaningless three-pointer at the horn as New Haven finished off a 73-70 road victory.
Led by Anderson’s 12 boards, the Chargers battled SCSU to a 32-32 rebounding deadlock. Both clubs also committed nine turnovers.
players with 21 points for the Owls.
New Haven closes out the regular season on Tuesday, Feb. 26 with a visit from Saint Rose. Tip-off with the Golden Knights on Senior Night is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Chargers will begin their postseason at home (opponent TBA) in the Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 3.
