NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Four Chargers finished in double figures, while freshman Ben Vezelle had a career-night with eight points and 13 rebounds as the University of New Haven men's basketball team dropped an 86-71 decision on the road at Southern Connecticut on Wednesday night. With the loss, New Haven falls to 7-17 on the season and 4-14 in the Northeast-10.
Leading all Chargers from the field was sophomore Tommy Hunt (Smithfield, R.I./St. Andrew's) who drained 16 points on four field goals, two of which came from outside the arc, and a 6-of-7 effort at the free throw line. Joining him in double figures was junior Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) with 15 points and seniors Joshua Guddemi (Nottingham, England/Derby) and Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) who chipped in 14 and 12, respectively.
Vezele's eight points came on a pair of field goals, while he was also 4-of-4 at the free throw line, while his 13 rebounds are the most by any Charger in 2015-16. Overall, Vezele played a career-best 32 minutes. The Chargers best shooting of the night came from McDaniels who finished 4-of-6 overall, including a perfect effort in two attempts from beyond the three point arc. He was also 2-of-3 at the line.
As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 39.2 percent on 20-of-51 with 10 of those field goals from outside the arc as the Chargers finished with a 40 percent effort from long range. The Blue and Gold also combined to go 21-of-26 at the free throw line for 80.8 percent overall.
The Chargers opened up the game with the first bucket, a jumper from Josh Guddemi 23 second into the action. New Haven wouldn't relinquish that lead through the first three-plus minutes, building as much as a four point advantage, 8-4. That lead came thanks to a three pointer from the corner for Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) and one-of-two at the line from Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy).
The Owls responded to that UNH lead by scoring 11 straight to take their first lead, building that advantage to 15-8 before back-to-back two-point trips at the line broke the momentum. After trading buckets for the nest five minutes, New Haven began chipping into the lead, cutting the deficit down to one and forcing a Southern Connecticut timeout with 7:16 remaining before the break. The run for UNH included a three pointer from Mosley and back-to-back layups from Mosley and McDaniels.
Southern Connecticut would close out the half scoring 17 of the final 19 points, taking a 51-34 lead into the break. Guddemi would end the first 20 minutes leading the Chargers on the floor with 10 points, securing his eight double figure game of the season. All but two of the Blue and Gold's 34 first half points came from the starting five. The only two bench points came from freshman Ben Vezele (Providence, R.I./Wilbraham & Monson Academy) who also pulled in a team-best six rebounds, also a career high.
Coming out of the intermission, the Chargers outscored Southern Connecticut 10-3 to pull within nine, 54-45 with 16:24 to play. Six of the 10 points came from beyond the three point arc with both of those buckets from Mosley, while McDaniels added a second chance bucket and Hunt went 2-of-2 at the line.
With the New Haven deficit at 11, the Owls began to pull away, scoring eight straight and pushing their lead to 19, 69-50 with 10:18 remaining. The Chargers answered that deficit by scoring seven points, all at the line, broken up only by an Owls layup. That rally put the Chargers deficit at 71-57. The teams would trade buckets down the stretch with the final two from New Haven coming from beyond the arc with Levy Gillespie (Meriden, Conn./Capital Preparatory Magnet) and Joseph Doganiero (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) getting in on the action.
New Haven returns to Charger Gymnasium for its final two regular season games. First on the schedule is a visit from Pace on Saturday, February 20 with tip off slated for 3:30 p.m. Following that will be a Senior Day match up against Le Moyne with that start scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Prior to taking on the Dolphins, the Chargers will honor seniors Joshua Guddemi (Nottingham, England/Derby) and Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission) in a pregame ceremony.
