WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) sank two free throws with two seconds remaining to cap career day and guide the University of New Haven men's basketball to a 72-70 win over visiting Bentley on Wednesday evening at Charger Gymnasium. Anderson finished with a career-high 29 points along with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
With the win, New Haven improves to 12-5 on the season and 7-4 in the Northeast-10. Bentley drops to 13-5 with a 7-5 NE-10 mark.
 
Anderson shot 11-for-18 from the field with one three-pointer and 6-for-8 day at the stripe. His final free throws capped a 16-point second half for the junior. Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) filled out his statline with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) knocked down three three-pointers en route to 15 points of his own.
 
Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) added six points for the Chargers, Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) notched five off the bench and Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) converted his only field attempt of the game to cap the New Haven scoring.
 
As a unit, the Blue and Gold shot 27-for-63 (42.9 percent) from the field, 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) from three-point range and 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Chargers held a 36-32 rebounding edge and converted 10 offensive boards into 10 second- chance points. New Haven also committed a season-low five turnovers and picked up seven takeaways. The 70 points surrendered mark the third time this season that Bentley has been held to 70 points or fewer. The Falcons entered the day averaging 83.1 points per contest.
 
Alex Furness led four Falcons in double figures with 19 points. Bentley shot 25-for-53 (47.2) percent from the field, 10-for-20 (50 percent) from three-point range and 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line. The Falcons were previously 13-0 when owning a higher field goal percentage than their opponents.
 
New Haven led by as many as eight points in a first half that featured three ties and three lead changes. The Northeast-10's most prolific three-point shooting team knocked down five treys over the opening eight minutes of action, but the Chargers kept pace with eight points from Anderson during that stretch leading the clubs to an 18-18 deadlock. New Haven netted the next eight points, including five from Mosley, to reopen an advantage before Bentley scored the next nine to reclaim a 27-26 lead. Back-to-back layups from Anderson and Adkins staked the Chargers to a lead they would hold for the remainder of the intermission, taking a 38-32 cushion into the locker room.
 
Anderson accounted for the first four points of the second half and, after a Bentley deuce, Exum drained a trey to extend the lead to 45-34 with 16:29 remaining. The edge grew to 13 points, but Bentley fired back with the next eight. After New Haven had rebuilt a nine-point margin, the Falcons once again heated up with back-to-back triples from Furness knotted the game at 66-66 with 1:39 left.
 
After an Anderson bucket in the lane, Jasper Grassa converted an old-fashioned three-point play to bring Bentley in front, 69-68, with 56 ticks to go. Following an empty trip for New Haven, Grassa sank one of two free throws to extend the edge to 70-68. Adkins quickly pushed the ball up the floor and converted the game-tying layup with 20 seconds remaining. Bentley would hold for the last shot, but were forced to settle for a deep Grassa three-pointer. Anderson elevated for his 13th rebound of the game and was fouled in the process with an even 2.0 seconds left. After a Bentley timeout, the junior forward swished home both free throws, leaving Bentley with one final chance. The desperation in-bounds heave took a fortuitous Bentley bounce toward Jasper Grassa, but Exum reached in and knocked the ball away before the Falcons could attempt a shot at the horn.
 
In addition to a season-low five turnovers, the Chargers sank at least nine three-pointers for the fifth time this season and held their 14th straight opponent (and 16th of 17 overall) below their season scoring average.
 
The Chargers return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 25 with a 3:30 p.m. visit to Stonehill. The Skyhawks stand at 5-11 overall and 2-9 in the NE-10 following a 110-84 loss at Southern Connecticut State this evening.