WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men’s basketball team came from behind on Saturday afternoon to defeat Northeast-10 foe Le Moyne, 65-57 at Charger Gymnasium. The Chargers have won two straight and are now 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the NE-10. With the loss, the Dolphins fall to 3-3 and 2-3 in league play.
Le Moyne started the game off strong and jumped to a quick 6-0 lead. After a three-pointer from Gamal Mohamed, the Dolphins matched their highest lead of the half, up seven with 11:14 to play. However, after several turnovers and missed shots from both teams, Jeffery Adkins, Jr. (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) hit a jumper to begin a 7-0 run for New Haven as they tied the game at 16-16.
On Le Moyne’s following possession, Brian Zapisek found Jim Janson for a lay-up to regain the lead. Both squads exchanged baskets the rest of the way and with just over a minute to go in the first half, Krystian Foriest (Bronx, NY/Wings Academy ) hit one from behind-the-arc to the cut the deficit to two. A three-pointer from Nate Champion 30 seconds later put the Dolphins ahead by five once again as they held a 28-23 lead at the break.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were much like the first as both teams went back-and-forth, neither squad able to pull ahead. At the 8:41 mark, Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) hit one from downtown to give New Haven its first lead of the game, up 42-40.
Ahead by one with over five minutes remaining, Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) drove past his defender for a reverse dunk to spark the offense. A couple plays later, Jeremy Williams (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) connected on a deep three-pointer to conclude an eight-point run from New Haven and forced the Dolphins to call a timeout.
The two teams exchanged buckets the rest of the way but a nine-point deficit was too much for Le Moyne to overcome down the stretch, as the Chargers pulled away, 65-57.
New Haven’s offense was led by Exum’s season- and game-high 24 points. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the line in addition to three assists, four rebounds and two steals. Joining him in double-digits were Adkins and Anderson, both with 10 points. Anderson also blocked a game-high three shots and matched a game-high seven rebounds.
The Chargers return to the court on Tuesday, December 6 as they head on the road to face AIC. Game time is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. in Springfield, Mass.
