BOX SCORE COLCHESTER, Vt. - Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the University of New Haven men's basketball team to a 78-68 win at Saint Michael's on Tuesday evening in Colchester, Vt. Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) added 16 points for the Chargers.
 
With the win, New Haven improves to 11-4 on the season and 6-3 in the Northeast-10. The Purple Knights fall to 11-3 after their first loss in eight home games and drop to 6-3 in NE-10 play.
 
Adkins' 24 points came on 11-for-19 shooting with a pair of three-pointers. The senior point guard also dished out three assists. Exum also canned a pair from distance while hauling in six rebounds. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) added 13 points and Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc en route to 11 points.
 
Rounding out the scoring were Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) with seven points, Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) with five and two points from Jonny Ocasio (Queens, N.Y./Charlotte (Fla.) / Hillsborough Community College). As a unit, the Chargers shot 30-for-59 (50.8 percent) from the field, 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range and 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Chargers committed seven turnovers and forced eight, while the Purple Knights claimed a 38-35 rebounding edge. Mike Holton Jr. led Saint Michael's with 20 points.
 
New Haven scored the game's first seven points – led by five straight by Adkins – to force an early Saint Michael's timeout, and DePass and Exum then knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to extend the margin to 15-4 at the 15:01 mark and induce a second stoppage. The Chargers rode hot shooting that included an 8-for-10 performance (80 percent) from three-point range to a 47-28 halftime lead. Overall, New Haven went 19-for-30 (63.3 percent) from the field over the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
The Chargers extended their lead to 22 points at 51-29 early in the second frame but then would not score for the next 5:14 as the Purple Knights trimmed the margin to 51-40. The Purple Knights, who entered the day averaging 82.5 points per game, continued to cut into the lead over the next stretch of action, with Adkins scoring 11 Charger points in a row to keep the Blue and Gold on top of the surging hosts. An 8-0 run would stake Saint Michael's to its first lead of the game, 66-65, with 4:22 remaining, but Adkins answered with a layup to reclaim the lead and, after a stop on the defensive end, Exum converted down low to extend the advantage to 69-66. Matt Bonds cut the margin to 69-68 with 2:45 to go, but New Haven would keep the Purple Knights off the board for the remainder of the game and the Chargers hit 7-of-9 free throws over the final 125 seconds to seal a 78-68 win.
 
New Haven shot 50 percent or better from the floor for the sixth time this season and committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the fifth time in 2013-14.
 
The Blue and Gold return to Charger Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 18 to host No. 22 Franklin Pierce at 1:30 p.m.