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WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven men's basketball team defeated the College of Saint Rose 80-73 Wednesday night in overtime at Charger Gymnasium. The Chargers, who opened their home and Northeast-10 Conference schedules in the win, improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Northeast-10. The Golden Knights fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

Scoring nine of the 14 points in overtime, sophomore #Jeffery Adkins, Jr.# led the Chargers to their second straight win to open the 2011-12 season. The back-to-back opening wins are the first since the 1989-90 season when the Chargers won nine-straight to open the year.

Saint Rose opened the game with five straight as the Chargers' started their first contest at Charger Gymnasium. After closing the lead to two, 3-5, Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) connected from downtown with 17:23 on the clock to give the Chargers a 6-5 advantage, their first of the game. The teams played back-and-forth, exchanging the lead numerous times over the next 10 minutes. Saint Rose then went on an 11-3 run over the course of four minutes to take a seven-point lead, 26-19. UNH then rattled off seven straight, including a three-pointer from freshman Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) to even the score at 26-26 with 4:29 left in the opening half. Saint Rose scored four of the final seven points and led 30-29 at halftime.

The Golden Knights opened the second half with a layup to push their lead to three, 32-29, but Exum answered for the Chargers and evened the score with a three pointer, 32-32. The game was kept very close for the first ten minutes of the second half as well, with six tie scores and five lead changes. With 10:10 remaining, a Saint Rose free throw evened the score at 47-47 for the 10th time in the game. The Golden Knights then took a lead and led for the next four minutes. The Chargers then went on a 7-2 run which was capped by four-straight free throws to take a 59-56 lead with 5:26 left in regulation. The Chargers controlled the game for another three minutes before Saint Rose went on a 5-0 run over a 50-second stretch in the later minutes of the second half, taking a 64-63 lead with 3:04 left. The Chargers scored three of the final five points of the second half, including a layup by Barek with 1:11 left to even the game at 66-66. In the final minute, Saint Rose missed a pair of free throws, while the Chargers missed a three pointer to send the game to overtime.

UNH scored the first four points in overtime and quickly took control of the extra period. Adkins scored off a pair of free throws and a layup to lead the Chargers to a 70-66 lead with 3:58 left. New Haven kept on the pressure defensively and after Saint Rose missed a three pointer with just over three minutes left, Exum hit a jumper at the top of the key, giving the Chargers a 72-68 lead. Down the stretch, Saint Rose could not convert and New Haven hit it's free throw to earn their second win of the season.

As a team, the Chargers shot 42.9-percent from the floor and 80-percent from the charity stripe. UNH was out-rebounded 37-32, but recorded six blocks in the game.

Exum led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 5-of-6 from the line. Adkins added 17 points, while Anderson scored 15, grabbed five boards, blocked three shots and handed out three assists. Barek tallied a game-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points and three blocks.

The Chargers return to action on Tuesday, November 22 when they host Adelphi University in another NE-10 doubleheader at Charger Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. For complete coverage, stay posted to www.NewHavenChargers.com.