BOX SCORE NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team erased a Bloomfield lead that grew as large as 18 points on Saturday afternoon, but the seventh-seeded Deacons ultimately held off the second-seeded Chargers to take a 59-57 win in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship hosted by Southern Connecticut State University.
 
With the loss, New Haven concludes its 2013-14 season at 21-9. The Chargers posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns and consecutive trips to the NCAA postseason for the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, and reached the Northeast-10 Championship Game for the first time in program history in the fourth year for Head Coach Ted Hotaling.
 
Bloomfield, which will play third-seeded Saint Anselm tomorrow, improves to 21-8. The Chargers won the regular-season meeting with the Deacons, 67-62, on Nov. 30 at Bloomfield.
 
Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) scored 14 points in his collegiate finale to eclipse the 1,300-point plateau. Adkins is ranked 19th with 1,308 points. Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) netted 12 points to surpass Phil Andros and wrap up his career ranked 10th all-time in scoring at New Haven with 1,637 points. Exum also knocked down three three-pointers to cement his program record of 294 career treys.
 
Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) recorded his 19th double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked two shots to improve his New Haven career record to 197 rejections and take sole possession of the single-season mark with 75 blocks. Ashanti DePass (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) added eight points, Cyrus James (Manchester, Conn./Howell Cheney Tech) scored five and Jonny Ocasio (Queens, N.Y./Charlotte (Fla.) / Hillsborough Community College) scored four.
 
Collectively, New Haven shot 21-for-61 (34.4 percent) from the field, 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from three-point range and 10-for-20 (50 percent) from the free throw line. The Chargers held the advantage in rebounds, 43-38, and committed five turnovers while forcing seven.
 
Bloomfield's Steve Henderson led all players with 15 points by way of five three-pointers. Kevin Udo hauled in 14 boards for the Deacons.
 
Bloomfield began the game on a 12-2 run, as the Chargers were unsuccessful on their first 10 attempts from the floor, while the Deacons shot 6-for-9 from the field during that span. An Adkins layup ended the drought at the 13:18 mark in the half, but Bloomfield continued to convert en route to a 23-8 advantage at the midway point of the period. The lead grew to 18 points at 31-13, at which point the Chargers clamped down on the defensive end and found their stride offensively. New Haven ceded only one field goal over the final six minutes as a part of an 11-2 run to cut the deficit in half and head to locker room trailing, 35-26.
 
The Chargers found themselves trailing, 42-34, with five minutes gone in the second half, when an Anderson layup started New Haven on an 8-0 run as Exum followed with back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game for the first time at 44-44 with 12:30 to play. The Deacons rebuilt a 59-51 advantage with 5:22 left. But would not score again as New Haven began to chip away. Consecutive layups by Adkins brought the score to within four, 59-55 with 2:56 to go, at which point both offenses stalled out. The margin held to the final minute as an Anderson rebound and putback pulled the Chargers within a possession at 59-57. After the New Haven defense forced a shot clock violation, the Blue and Gold had 18 seconds to play with a chance to tie or win. Adkins found DePass for a three-pointer from the wing that went halfway down but wouldn't fall for the senior. The Chargers got one last chance after a missed Bloomfield free throw with 2.1 ticks to go, but the three-quarter court heave fell short and the Deacons held on for a 59-57 decision.
 
The Chargers will graduate five student-athletes: seniors Adkins, DePass, Exum and Krystian Foriest (Bronx, NY/Wings Academy ) as well as graduate student Kevin McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic). Anderson, a First Team All-Northeast-10 honoree and the two-time NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, heads a list of eight returners for the 2014-15 campaign.