New Haven (14-5, 9-4 NE-10) vs. Merrimack (8-11, 6-8 NE-10)
Saturday, Feb. 1 – 3:30 p.m.
West Haven, Conn. – Charger Gymnasium
Live Video | Live Stats
 
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
Opening Tip
The University of New Haven men's basketball team returns to Charger Gymnasium to complete Northeast-10 cross-divisional play against visiting Merrimack. The Chargers claimed a non-conference meeting with the Warriors, 83-53, on Dec. 19 in North Andover, Mass.
 
Last Time Out
New Haven used a defensive stand on the game's final possession to take a 59-57 decision at Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday evening.
 
For the second time in three games, Eric Anderson accounted for the winning bucket. The junior's layup with 1:20 marked the final two points of the evening as rounded out an 11-point, 16-rebound performance for his team-leading 13th double-double of the season.
 
Jeffery Adkins netted a game-high 14 points in addition to six rebounds.
 
Ashanti DePass buried three three-pointers en route to 12 points, and Justin Exum hit a pair of distance to fuel his eight-point effort.
 
The Chargers overcame a season-high 19 turnovers by shooting 20-for-45 (44.4 percent) from the field with an 8-for-20 (40 percent) mark from three-point range.
 
The Penmen missed four attempts to tie or take the lead in the final minute of action, including an Anderson block with less than 10 seconds to play and a missed three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
New Haven's last four games have been within one possession in the final seven seconds of action and six of its last seven contests were within three points in the last 1:20 of regulation. In total, four of the Chargers' nine games in the month of January were ultimately decided by a single possession, including two buzzer-beater losses.
 
New Haven Notes
As of the most recent NCAA report (through games played Jan. 30), New Haven ranks fifth in Division II with 61.9 points allowed per game. The Chargers also slot eighth in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 38.7 percent and land at 12th with just 10.1 turnovers committed per contest. The Blue and Gold lead the Northeast-10 in all three categories.
 
New Haven's nationally-ranked defense has also committed the fewest fouls per game in all of Division II with just 13.9 infractions per contest.
 
The Chargers have held 18 of 19 opponents, including their last 16, below their current 2013-14 scoring average. The New Haven defensive effort allowed a season-low 42 points to Concordia on Nov. 16 and has limited 10 teams to fewer than 60 points.
 
On the offensive end, the Blue and Gold have shot 50 percent or better from the field in six contests. New Haven's most efficient effort was a 27-for-49 (55.1 percent) performance in the Nov. 26 win at American International. The Chargers also buried 8-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc in the 74-52 triumph over the Yellow Jackets in Springfield.
 
The Chargers only trailed by more than one possession (three points) in two of their nine January contests. One of those contests was an eventual win (Jan. 25 at Stonehill). In the other, the Chargers erased a 15-point deficit against Saint Anselm before falling on an overtime buzzer beater, 85-83, on Jan. 8.
 
New Haven's 9-2 road record to date marks the only the second time in the past 20 seasons that the Chargers have won nine or more true road games. The Blue and Gold have won at least seven contests with a winning record on the road in each of the last three campaigns following a stretch of seven consecutive sub-.500 campaigns away from Charger Gymnasium from 2004-11. The Chargers went 10-5 on the road in 2003-04 en route to an NCAA postseason berth.
 
Jeffery Adkins most recently netted a game-high 14 points in Tuesday's win at Southern New Hampshire to improve his career mark to 1,122 points and climb to 25th all-time in scoring at New Haven. This winter, Adkins is averaging a team-leading 16.3 points and 4.2 assists per contest this season while shooting 52 percent (103-198) from the floor and 82 percent (82-100) from the free throw line. He has also moved into a tie for fifth all-time in assists at New Haven with 348 and 12th place in career steals at 122.
 
Justin Exum knocked down two three-pointers on Tuesday to improve his New Haven program record to 266 treys. He ranks fifth among all active Division II student-athletes and 15th across all NCAA divisions in made three-pointers. Exum's career .373 shooting percentage from distance is the eighth-best in program history.
 
Exum also ranks 12th all-time in scoring at New Haven with 1,470 career points. The Chargers' third-leading scorer this season with 14.4 points per game, he is 157 tallies shy of the program's all-time top 10.
 
With Adkins joining Exum in the 33-member 1,000-Point Club at New Haven this season, the Chargers boast two active 1,000-point scorers for the first time since Jamaal Brooks (1,248) and Ismael Caro (1,099) shared the court in the 2003-04 campaign.
 
Based upon his current scoring average, Eric Anderson could also reach the 1,000-point plateau during 2013-14; the junior has accumulated 920 total points for the Blue and Gold. The most recent trio of active teammates in the 1,000-Point Club consisted of Brian Smith (1,936), Mike Grove (1,589) and Dwane Crawford (1,095) in the 1992-93 season.
 
This winter, Anderson averages 15.5 points and ranks second in the Northeast-10 with 11.4 rebounds per game. The reigning NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, who is one block shy of the conference lead with 2.68 stuffs per contest, is eighth in the nation on the boards and 11th in rejections. Anderson has posted 13 double-doubles this season.
 
In the midst of his junior season, Anderson has moved into second all-time at New Haven with 173 rejections. He recently surpassed Bill Jeffress for second place and stands 19 blocks shy of the 191 shots turned away by Herb Watkins. Both Jeffress and Watkins suited up for the Chargers from 1984-88.
 
Anderson's 71 blocks in 2012-13 were the second-most in a single-season in Charger history, tied with Jeffress and two shy of Watkins' program-record 73 rejections. He has 51 blocked shots to date in 2013-14, which is tied for the eighth-highest single-season total in the New Haven record books.
 
Cyrus James has recorded the first two double-doubles of his career this season. He is New Haven's most-efficient scorer at 51-for-88 (58 percent) from the floor en route to 6.3 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds per game. James ranks sixth in the NE-10 in both rebounds and blocked shots (1.32 bpg) per contest. He collected a career-high 16 boards on Jan. 18 against Franklin Pierce.
 
In his first season as a member of the starting lineup, Ashanti DePass is netting 9.7 points per game. The senior leads the team with 34 made three-pointers and converts 37.8 percent of his attempts from distance while playing 32.7 minutes per outing.
 
Fourth-year head coach Ted Hotaling improved to 57-45 at New Haven (and in his career) following Tuesday's win at Southern New Hampshire. He ranks fifth all-time in wins on the Chargers' sidelines and his .559 winning percentage is third in New Haven history.
 
Of the nine head coaches in New Haven men's basketball history, eight of them have coached at least 100 games for the Chargers. Hotaling's 55-45 mark through 100 contests was the best since Stu Grove went 63-37 en route to a program-record 253 wins from 1980-1995. Don Ormrod leads the list with an 85-15 mark while leading New Haven's first five varsity seasons and finished his tenure at 124-22 with a program-best .849 winning percentage from 1961-67. Ormrod was also the first Director of Athletics at New Haven College.
 
Up Next
New Haven begins its second trip through the Northeast-10 Southwest Division with a visit from crosstown rival and division leader Southern Connecticut State on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Chargers and No. 19 nationally-ranked Owls tip off at Charger Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m.