WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A coast-to-coast layup by Ellis Cooper was good at the buzzer as the University of New Haven men's basketball team was edged by nationally-ranked No. 22 Franklin Pierce, 69-68, on Saturday afternoon at Charger Gymnasium. Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) and Cooper shared the game high with 22 points apiece.
 
With the loss, the Chargers fall to 11-5 on the season and 6-4 in the Northeast-10. The Ravens improve to 13-2 with an 8-2 conference mark.
 
On the day he was recognized for joining the Chargers' 1,000-Point Club, Adkins added 22 more to his career total on 8-fior-15 shooting from the floor with one three-pointer and a 5-for-5 performance at the free throw line. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) rounded out his 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds – as well as seven blocked shots – and Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) netted 11 points. Adkins and Anderson each dished out a team-leading three assists.
 
Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) and Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) each added six points, Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) netted four and Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) knocked down a trey to rounded out the Chargers' scoring.
 
As unit, New Haven shot 27-for-60 (45 percent) from the field, 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from three-point range and 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line.
 
James pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to lead the Chargers on the glass, as both teams grabbed 36 boards with 11 on the offensive end. Each club committed six turnovers.
 
The Chargers' defensive effort held Franklin Pierce below 70 points for only the third time this season. The visitors entered the day ranked third in the Northeast-10 with 85.0 points per game, while New Haven ranked fifth in the nation and topped the conference with 61.1 points allowed per game at the start of today's action.
 
Behind Ellis' 22 points, Adrianos Vourliotakis posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Ravens.
 
The first half featured seven lead changes as the squads raced out to a 26-25 margin in favor of New Haven with 4:14 to play in the period. At that point, the Chargers went on the only true run of the frame as DePass drained a triple to start the Blue and Gold on a 9-0 run over the ensuing 2:52 to claim a 35-26 advantage. After the Ravens ended the drought with a three-point play, an Exum fast-break dunk and an Adkins layup staked New Haven to what would be the largest lead of the afternoon at 39-28 in the final minute of action. Ryen Vilmont drained a corner three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the margin to 39-31 at the half.
 
Anderson posted 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks before the intermission, while Adkins scored 10 in the opening half.
 
Franklin Pierce quickly erased the deficit with a 9-0 run to open the second half, but New Haven responded in kind with an 11-2 stretch featuring a James dunk and back-to-back Adkins buckets and capped by a DePass trey to run the margin to 50-42 New Haven with 14:42 to play.  An ensuing 9-2 spurt by the Ravens trimmed the deficit to 52-51, before Mosley buried a trey to induce a timeout with 11:10 remaining.
 
The four-point cushion held to a 64-60 count on Adkins' final bucket of the afternoon with 4:47 to go. Vourliotakis answered with a layup and, after several empty trips each way, Tyler Iacoune hit a triple to put Franklin Pierce on top, 65-64, with 1:13 left. After a timeout, Anderson drove the lane and finished at the rim to propel New Haven back into the lead, 66-65.
 
On the Ravens' next possession, Anderson came up with a block on Vilmont's first shot, but the Franklin Pierce shooter grabbed his own carom and drew a foul; he would hit both free throws to move the score to 67-66 in favor of Franklin Pierce with 22 seconds left. The Chargers responded on their final possession, as Exum ball-faked and hit a jumper to stake the hosts to a 68-67 lead with 4.5 seconds to play.
 
After quickly advancing the ball to three-quarter court and calling a timeout, the Ravens gave the ball to Cooper with 3.9 seconds to go. The All-Northeast-10 performer hit a layup in traffic as the horn sounded, and a Ravens escaped Charger Gymnasium with a 69-68 decision.
 
New Haven's six turnovers matched its season-low and marked the sixth time that the Chargers have had fewer than 10 giveaways.
 
The Blue and Gold remain on their home court to host Bentley at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. The Falcons are 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the Northeast-10 following a 78-64 win at American International this afternoon.