WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men’s basketball team held Le Moyne College to the fewest points allowed in the shot clock era en route to a 73-38 victory at Charger Gymnasium. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) scored a game-high 18 points, while Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) added 17 to lead the Chargers.
The Charger defense’s outstanding performance was also the fewest allowed since Feb. 13, 1985 when the Chargers held Bridgeport to 34 points, in a UNH loss. The win also marked the Chargers largest margin of victory since Jan. 31, 2004 when they defeated South Hampton College 101-65.
New Haven improved to 16-7 overall and 13-6 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Dolphins dropped to 11-12 overall and 8-11 in conference play. The win puts the Chargers into fourth place in the NE-10 standings heading into the final two weeks of conference play.
In the first 10 minutes, New Haven raced out to a 19-point, 27-8, lead after Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) connected on a pair of free throws. The Chargers continued to press on the defensive end and connected on the offensive end to hold a lead as large as 32 points. UNH scored 11 of the final 13 points and led 49-17 at halftime.
The chargers shot a remarkable 70.8 percent from the floor and 77.8 percent from three-point range in the first stanza. Adkins scored a half-best 14 points, while Anderson added 10.
New Haven continued to lead by a large margin throughout the second half. An Anderson dunk at the 13:38 mark gave the Chargers their largest lead of the game at 39 points, 58-19. UNH’s bench then got into the game with Kevin McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) scoring his first collegiate points and Mark Palmieri (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) scoring a career-high five points. Le Moyne scored the game’s final basket with 48 seconds remaining, cutting the final score to 73-38.
As a whole, the Chargers shot 49.1 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range. UNH held a 33-29 advantage on the boards and an 11-0 advantage in steals. The Chargers also led in points off turnovers (19-5), second chance points (12-4), fast break points (10-0) and points in the paint (32-22).
Along with allowing the fewest points in the shot clock era, the Chargers tied a season-best with just five offensive turnovers and grabbed a season-best 18 turnovers from Le Moyne.
Anderson added a team-high seven rebounds and three steals. Adkins grabbed four boards, two assists and two steals, while Williams contributed 10 points, six assists and four rebounds.
The Chargers return to action at American International College on Wednesday, Feb. 20 in Springfield, Mass. Game time with the Yellow Jackets is set for 7:30 p.m. UNH also travels to Southern Connecticut State on Saturday, Feb. 23 before hosting Saint Rose at Charger Gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 26 for Senior Night.
