BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The University of New Haven men's basketball team played shutdown defense against Merrimack College and won its 15th game of the season in a 56-51 victory Saturday afternoon at Charger Gymnasium. Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) led the Chargers with 13 points, while Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) contributed 12 and Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) grabbed 14 rebounds.

With the win, the Chargers secured their third-straight 15-win season for the first time since 2005 and improved to 15-5 overall. UNH also improved to 10-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference and moved into sole possession of second place in the NE-10 Southwest Division with other results from Saturday afternoon. Merrimack dropped to 8-12 overall, 6-9 NE-10.

Adkins went 6-of-10 from the floor to earn his 13 points, while adding five assists. Anderson contributed nine points and three blocks to his rebounding effort. DePass went 3-for-9 from long range and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe for his 12 points.

As a team, the Chargers were out-rebounded 36-32 and turned the ball over two more times (13-11). New Haven made up for it at the foul line by shooting 81.3 percent. The UNH defense held Merrimack to a season-low 51 points, while earning a win with its lowest point total of the season, 56.

The Chargers and Warriors played a tightly contested match for the first 10 minutes of the game. Adkins turned a one-point UNH deficit into a one-point advantage and sparked a 7-0 run over a five minute span. The Chargers turned a 21-15 lead with 6:09 left in the first half into a 26-17 lead after an Adkins trifecta at the 3:30 mark. DePass also connected from long range with 10 seconds left and gave New Haven its largest lead of the opening half, 31-21.

Anderson opened the second half with another three for the Chargers, who led by double figures for the first three minutes of the second half. Led by Gelvis Solano, Merrimack mounted a comeback with a 12-2 run during a stretch of 3:36. Samir McDaniels took over the UNH offense for the next five minutes and kept the Chargers in the lead. He scored his sixth point of the stretch at the 5:23 mark to give the Chargers a 49-44 lead. New Haven held at least a three-point advantage in the final minutes, while Anderson sealed the victory with a pair of free throws in the final seconds. Merrimack's basket with two seconds left brought the final score to 56-51.

New Haven returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 5 when crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State travels to Chargers Gymnasium for an NE-10 Southwest Divisional matchup with the top two teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.