By JOHN LAHTINEN
COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS WRITER

The men’s basketball team, winner of 13 of its last 15 games, takes on Northeast-10 rival Assumption tonight at Charger Gymnasium. Tipoff is at 5:30.

The men sit fourth in the conference at 11-6, three games back of Saint Anselm (14-3) and two back of Assumption (13-4).

“We’ve had really good performances by several guys,” said UNH third-year head coach Ted Hotaling. “Justin Exum has been one of, if not the, best shooters in the country over the last 14 games.”

The Chargers will not only be seeking to gain ground in the conference, but will also be looking to avenge a heartbreaking 57-56 loss to the Greyhounds back in November. Assumption closed that game with an 11-0 run to shock UNH in the final seconds.

That setback, and another at LeMoyne a few days later, left the Chargers with a 1-5 record. Hotaling says the team – which played four of its first five league games on the road – was doing all the right things, but just wasn’t executing down the stretch to close games out.

“I think sometimes losing does help your team refocus a little bit to where you start to focus on the right things again,” Hotaling said. “Defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball definitely improved quite a bit after those first few games.”

In three seasons, Hotaling has taken a program mired in a bit of a downswing and worked diligently to instill a sense of pride and confidence among his players. He says a big part of the transformation is setting standards and getting his players to understand those standards.

“I think as we’ve gotten into year three our players are speaking our language and I think we’re all on the same page,” Hotaling said. “We have one voice, one vision, one goal for the program.”

But Hotaling, not one to rest on his laurels, knows the team and the program can get even better.

“We’re not where we want to get to yet, but I do think we’ve made really good strides,” he said. “When you have good players and guys who allow you to coach them, guys who get along and who are unselfish, it’s a pretty good formula and I think that’s why we’ve had a lot of our success.”

The women’s team, riding a four-game winning streak, takes on Assumption at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Chargers are 9-8 in the NE-10 and three games behind fourth-place Assumption.