BOX SCORE RINDGE, N.H. – The University of New Haven men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to eight games and recorded its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2008 with a 53-50 win at No. 22 Franklin Pierce on Tuesday evening.
 
Following the Chargers’ eighth consecutive victory , the club stands at 9-5 on the season and 6-4 in the Northeast-10. New Haven last topped a nationally-ranked opponent on Dec. 6, 2008 with a 70-61 win over No. 13 Bentley. The Ravens, who won the Northeast-10 Regular Season Championship last winter and were selected to repeat in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll, drop to 10-4 overall with a 7-3 NE-10 mark.
 
Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian), who entered the game as the nation’s most accurate three-pointer shooter at 50 percent, improved his season mark with a 4-for-5 showing from distance en route to a team-high 16 points. Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) also connected on four triples to account for a personal season-best 12 tallies. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) and Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) each drained a three-pointer for New Haven as well. The Chargers’ 10 three-pointers are a season high and the most since New Haven connected on 10 treys in a win at Le Moyne on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
Collectively, the Chargers shot 20-for-52 (38.5 percent) from the floor, 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from three-point range and 3-for-5 (60 percent) at the free throw line.
 
Anderson finished with seven points and hauled in 10 boards – the 10th consecutive game in which the sophomore grabbed double-digit rebounds. Exum had eight rips as New Haven held a 35-31 advantage on the glass. Adkins dished out a game-high six assists for the Chargers.
 
Reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Year Eric Jean-Guillaume netted a game-high 17 points for Franklin Pierce.
 
The Chargers’ first seven field goals of the game were from distance – fueled by early 3-for-3 showings by both Exum and DePass – as New Haven led by as many as 18 points in the opening half en route to a 30-18 halftime score in favor of the visitors. Exum led all scorers with 11 first-half points.
 
New Haven maintained a double-digit advantage into the closing minutes of the game. However, holding a 53-38 edge with 4:25 to play, the Chargers would not score again. Franklin Pierce scored 12 straight points to cut the lead to a single possession in the final seconds, but Jean-Guillaume missed a contested three-pointer as the clock expired, and New Haven left the Granite State with a 53-50 win.
 
Riding their second eight-game winning streak under third-year head coach Ted Hotaling, the Chargers return home on Saturday, Jan. 19 to meet Southern New Hampshire. Tip-off from Charger Gymnasium is slated for 3:30 p.m.