WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men’s basketball team suffered a heart-breaking 54-51 loss to Pace University Saturday
afternoon. After Ade Barek (London, England/West Catholic / Saint Petersburg College) evened the score at 51-51 with six seconds left, Pace’s Denzel Primus-Devonish sunk a three-pointer as time expired and secured the last-second victory for the Setters at Charger Gymnasium. New Haven fell to 13-8 overall and 9-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the loss, while the Setters improved to 11-10 overall and 9-8 in conference play.
Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) led New Haven with 14 points, while Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) added 12 points and Barek contributed 11. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) led the Chargers with 11 rebounds.
The first half was a defensive battle Saturday as the teams played to a 19-19 low-scoring tie at halftime. Anderson opened scoring and the Chargers went on a 10-0 run over the first eight minutes of the opening half. The Setters began comign back point-by-point throughout the first half. The Chargers led 15-7 at the 8:39 mark and then Pace went on a 12-4 run to close out. Adkins hit a layup with 21-seconds left in the first half to even the score at 19-19 at the break.
An evenly played first half made for an exciting second half for fans on hand at Charger Gymnasium. UNH opened with a dunk by Barek who received a baseline pass from Adkins. The Chargers would control the lead for the first eight minutes of the second half. The Setter took their first lead of the second half at the 11:54 mark, while James gave the Chargers the lead right back with another UNH dunk from Adkins. The freshman scored another four-straight points to give the Chargers a six-point lead, 40-34. New Haven continued to lead until the final three minutes. Pace went on an 8-2 run over a four minute stretch to take a one-point lead, 47-46, with just over three minutes remaining. Exum then made a pair of free throws to give the Chargers the lead back at the 2:04 mark. After a missed opportunity by Pace, Barek connected on one of two free throws to give the Chargers a 49-47 lead at the 1:21 mark. At the other end of the court, the Setters evened the game at 49-49 after a pair of free throws. On New Haven’s next possession, a three-point attempts fell short and the Setters took the ball with 45 seconds left in regulation. Keon Williams put in a layup with 19 seconds left to give the Setters a two-point lead. The Chargers answered with a jumper by Barek from the free throw line with six second remaining. The Setters then took the ball the length of the court in five seconds. A desperation three-point attempt by Primus-Devonish banked off the backboard and sunk as time expired.
In the second half, the two teams exchanged the lead six times and tied the score six times as well. The Chargers held a 38-21 advantage on the boards, but UNH would turn the ball over 18 times, compared to 11 by Pace.
New Haven will return to the court on Wednesday, February 8 when it travels to Assumption College. Game time in Worcester, Mass. is set for 7:30 p.m. For complete coverage on Wednesday, stay posted to www.NewHavenChargers.com.
