WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Junior guard Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) scored the Chargers second 30-point game of the season, setting a career-high with 30 points after opening the game hitting his first seven field goal attempts as the New Haven men's basketball team dropped an 83-81 decision to the Merrimack Warriors.
With the loss, New Haven falls to 4-9 overall and 1-6 in the Northeast-10, while Merrimack approves to 8-6 on the year and 3-5 in the league. With the game tied at 81, the Warriors pulled down an offensive board on a missed free throw and converted the game winner as time expired. That buzzer beater came off the hand of Gelvis Solano as he scored the final 19 of Merrimack's points, spanning just shy of six minutes.
Overall for the game, Mosley was one of three Chargers who finished in double figures, joined by redshirt freshman Michael Bourke (South Orange, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) and senior Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) who closed out the contest with 17 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, the Chargers shot 50 percent overall on 26-of-52, with 12 of those field goals form beyond the three point arc. New Haven also converted 17 of their 22 free throw attempts, while the Warriors took just nine free throws, making six.
Mosley finished the afternoon shooting 9-of-14 after opening the day converting his first seven attempts, including four three pointers. The hottest hand of the day for New Haven was McDaniels who finished 3-of-3 from the field including a three pointer. In addition to Mosley's overall shooting efforts, he was also a perfect 7-of-7 at the line.
The Chargers also finished with a 31-28 advantage on the board led by senior Joshua Guddemi (Nottingham, England/Derby) who pulled down eight boards. Overall, all eight Chargers finished with at least one rebound, while all but one put up at least four points.
New Haven opened up the game to an early 13-4 lead over the first five-plus minutes thanks in part to the hot hand of Mosley who sandwiched a Bourke layup with a pair of three pointers. Those nine points all came while holding the Warriors scoreless over a three minutes span.
Bourke provided the first double digit lead of the day when he drained a three pointer with just under 12 minutes before the intermission. That basket came thanks to a pass from Tommy Hunt (Smithfield, R.I./St. Andrew's) who just over a minute earlier used a pass from Bourke for his first three of the game.
The largest lead of the half came with 5:05 remaining before the break courtesy of a three from Mosley. That basket was the final of the half for New Haven as Merrimack ended the first 20 minutes on a 14-0 run to take a 41-40 advantage into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, the Warriors quickly extended their lead to seven with a pair of three pointers, while Mosley broke that momentum hitting two-of-two at the free throw line. The two teams traded baskets over the next seven minutes before the Chargers answered their largest deficit of the game with an 11-2 run, tying the score at 64 with 7:22 remaining. In that run, the Chargers held Merrimack to one field goal in five attempts, while forcing the Warriors into a trio of turnovers.
Following the one field goal in that stretch for Merrimack, New Haven would rattle off 11 straight points, including the game-tying jumper from Bourke. That rally led to a seven point lead for the Chargers with 6:03 remaining in the game, a lead they would hold for the next four minutes.
New Haven's final field goal of the game came with just shy of 90 seconds remaining, a floater from Bourke. That bucket knotted the game at 79. A free throw from McDaniels would pull New Haven within one before Guddemi tied the contest at 81 with 2.8 second remaining, going 1-of-2 at the line. With 2.2 remaining on the clock, Merrimack's Selano would miss the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, but gathered his own rebound and hit a fade away jumper as the buzzer sounded for the game winner.
The Chargers host a second straight game at Charger Gym when they welcome the Bentley Falcons to West Have on Saturday, January 9 as part of a double header with the women's team. The men's squad is scheduled to open the doubleheader with tip off set for 1:30 p.m. As part of their Building Community initiatives, the Chargers will be collecting books for Read to Grow, which helps build literacy right from birth. All fans who bring a children's book to the game will receive complimentary admission. Complete coverage of Charger men's basketball can be found at www.NewHavenChargers.com.
