BOX SCORE NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) scored a career-best 27 points and Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) broke the University of New Haven record for career three-pointers, but the Chargers were edged in overtime at Southern Connecticut State, 82-74, on Sunday afternoon.
 
With their first loss in seven games, the Chargers fall to 7-3 on the season with a 4-2 Northeast-10 record. The Owls improve to 9-1 with a 5-1 conference mark.
 
Adkins' 27 points came on 8-for-12 shooting with a career-best four three-pointers. The senior played 43 minutes of the overtime contest. Exum knocked down two three-pointers to surpass Mike Grove (1989-93) as the program's all-time leader with 253 career triples. He finished with 10 points.
 
Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) added 13 points with three three-pointers as the Chargers went 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) from distance. New Haven was 24-for-65 (36.9 percent) from the floor overall and shot 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) at the free throw line.
 
Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) fell one point shy of a double-double, adding 11 rebounds and two blocked shots to his nine points. Jonny Ocasio (Queens, N.Y./Charlotte (Fla.) / Hillsborough Community College) matched his career best with eight tallies off the bench, and Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) netted six points with a career-high and team-leading 13 boards. Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) hit one free throw to round out the New Haven scoring.
 
The Chargers were outrebounded, 49-42, and each club committed seven turnovers.
 
Greg Langston matched Adkins with 27 points and hauled in 15 rebounds for the Owls. Deshawn Murphy added 21 with four three-pointers in the victory.
 
After trailing early by a 7-2 count, Exum's record-breaking trey started the Chargers on a 13-0 run to take a 15-7 advantage. A Langston jumper ended the Owls' scoring drought, but Adkins responded with his second consecutive three-pointer to keep New Haven in front, 18-9, at the 13:27 mark in the first half. The lead remained at nine or greater for the next several minutes until the Owls netted five straight to trim their deficit to 31-25. Adkins responded with a three-point play and, after erasing an SCSU fast-break layup with a chase-down block, buried his third triple of the half to extend the cushion to 39-30 in the final minute of the half. The Owls added a pair of free throws on their final possession of the frame to cement the halftime score with New Haven on top, 39-32.
 
The clubs traded baskets to start the second half, with New Haven maintaining an edge at 47-42 with 14:06 left. At that point, Anderson and DePass would each convert in the lane to extend the margin to 51-42 and force an SCSU timeout with 9:36 to go. Anderson had the next bucket after the stoppage before the Owls scored at the 10:18 mark to end a drought of 4:25 without a field goal and cut the deficit to 53-46. The New Haven lead shrank to one possession for the first time in the second half at 57-54, but Adkins responded with a deep three-pointer as the shot clock expired to reclaim a six-point advantage at 60-54.
 
The Owls then scored eight of the next 11 points, cutting the score to 63-62 and inducing a New Haven timeout with 3:21 remaining. Adkins would hit one-of-two at the free throw line, and Murphy responded with a layup to tie the contest for the first time since a 7-7 deadlock three minutes into the game. After an empty trip for the Chargers, Langston hit a jumper to put the Owls on top, 66-64, with 1:59 remaining. Adkins again went to the line, this time hitting both, to knot the game with 1:43 left. Langston and Exum traded baskets to maintain the stalemate, and the New Haven defense forced a shot clock violation – including a blocked shot from Anderson – to earn a possession with a 68-68 tie and 29.5 seconds remaining. The Chargers held for a final shot, but Anderson's turnaround jumper drew iron as regulation expired and the game headed into overtime.
 
Murphy began the overtime with a three-pointer and Langston followed with a fadeaway jumper to stake SCSU to a 73-68 lead after the first minute of the extra session. The Chargers got on the board with a second-chance bucket from James, but Langston answered with a layup and the foul. DePass converted one-of-two free throws to trim the margin to 76-71, but the Owls had opened up a nine-point advantage before New Haven would score again on a DePass trey with 51.3 seconds to go that cut the deficit to 80-74. The hosts would hit two free throws down the stretch to seal the victory, 82-74.

The Chargers return to action on Thursday, Jan. 2 for a non-conference visit from reigning NE-10 Champion Southern New Hampshire. Tip-off from Charger Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m.