BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season, but the University of New Haven men's basketball team dropped a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division matchup, 78-72, to nationally-ranked No. 16 Southern Connecticut State University on Tuesday night at Charger Gymnasium.

The Chargers fall to 15-6 overall and 10-5 in the NE-10 with the loss. The Owls improve to 19-2 on the season and 13-2 in conference play.

Three other Chargers scored in double figures, including 22 points from Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian). His game-high came off 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-4 at the line, while also grabbing five rebounds and two assists. Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) pitched in with 19 points, four assists and two rebounds. Anderson tallied three blocks to go along with his double-double. Nine of his 17 rebounds came on the offensive end as well. Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) was the final UNH player in double figures with 10 points.

The Chargers trailed significantly in shooting percentage, but held a 78.6 percent (11-of-14) to 63.6 (7-of-11) percent advantage in free throw shooting. The Chargers led 36-47 on the glass and 8-11 in the turnover battle. However, SCSU held a 22-0 advantage in bench points.

The highly competitive game at Charger Gymnasium started with a 7-3 run by the visitors in the first two minutes. The game then began a back-and-forth flow that led to 12 tie scores and eight lead changes over the ensuing 38 minutes.

Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) tied the game at 8-8 with a dunk at the 17:22 mark of the first half, but New Haven didn't take its first lead until nearly five minutes later. Adkins hit a three-pointer to put UNH ahead 15-14 at 12:47. The Chargers held on to the lead for four minutes until a 12-5 run for SCSU turned into a 29-24 lead with 4:08 left in the first half. UNH battled back in the closing minutes and used an 11-2 run to close the half with a 35-31 lead. The four-point advantage proved to be New Haven's largest of the game. In the first half alone, the lead changed five times and the score was tied seven times.

The New Haven was gone 2:33 into the second half as the Owls opened with an 8-3 run of their own. Stefon Williams converted all three points of an and-one to knot the game at 39-39. Over the next seven minutes, the lead changed hands four times. Exum converted a breakaway slam dunk at the 10:23 mark, but Southern answered with a three-pointer from Michael Mallory 13 second later to take the lead for good nearly halfway through the second half. The Owls' lead was within six points until the 1:09 mark when Mallory made his fourth-straight free throws to give SCSU a 75-66 lead. That Chargers fought back and cut the lead down to three with 28 seconds remaining, but Southern scored three unanswered baskets to secure the six-point victory.

New Haven returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 8 when it travels to Albany, N.Y. to take on Saint Rose. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. The Chargers continue a two-game road stand at Le Moyne on Tuesday, Feb. 11 before returning home on Saturday, Feb. 15 against Pace.