WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A last second three point attempt as time expired was deflected as the University of New Haven men's basketball team succumbed to American International College 56-53 on Wednesday night at Charger Gym. With the loss, New Haven falls to 6-15 overall and 3-12 in the Northeast-10.
Four different players cracked the double digit mark for the Chargers with junior Jemal Mosley (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep / Putnam Science Academy) leading the way with 12 points. He was joined by Samir McDaniels (Roxbury, Mass./New Mission), Joshua Guddemi (Nottingham, England/Derby) and Michael Bourke (South Orange, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) who all chipped in 10 points. Overall, 45 of the Chargers 53 points came from its starting lineup with Tommy Hunt (Smithfield, R.I./St. Andrew's) adding three. Off the bench, Levy Gillespie (Meriden, Conn./Capital Preparatory Magnet) put up six points, while Jacob Pupavac (Geelong, Australia/Belmont) added two points on a put back bucket.
As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 30.8 percent, making 16-of-52 field goal attempts. Half of those field goals came from beyond the three point arc with the Chargers matching that percentage with the eight three pointers coming on 26 attempts. New Haven also finished 13-of-19 at the free throw line.
Additionally, the Chargers trailed AIC in the battle of the boards by a 33-48 margin with McDaniels leading the team with seven rebounds. Overall eight different players pulled down at least one rebound. As wella as leading the team in scoring, Mosley also led in the assists department as he dished out a game-high four.
Trailing 5-0 early, the Chargers responded by scoring the next eight points including back-to-back three pointers from Bourke and McDaniels which provided the first lead change of the evening. Following three stalemates over the next five-plus minutes, the Yellow Jackets would go on an 8-0 run to open up their largest lead of the half at 23-16 with 3:45 remaining.
New Haven responded by scoring eight of the last 10 points to pull within one at the intermission, 25-24, with that only bucket for AIC coming as the last points for either team before the break. Facing that seven point deficit, the Chargers would rattle off eight straight of their own on three pointers from Mosley and Bourke and a layup from Guddemi, which all led to a 24-23 lead with 1:44 remaining.
Coming out of the locker room after the intermission, the Yellow Jackets would maintain their advantage for the first 13 minutes of the half, building the lead to its largest of the game of nine with 12:24 remaining.
New Haven answered by scoring six straight points and 12 of the next 15 to knot the game at 44 with 7:08 remaining. The game-tying points came on a pair of free throws from Burke, which were part of an 11-0 run that led to the lead change and a 49-44 Charger lead with 5:13 remaining.
The Chargers would keep that lead for the next four minutes until a pair of free throws with 66 seconds remaining gave AIC the lead back, this time for good. Two more free throws would put the margin at three with 10 seconds remaining. Hunt took what would have been the game-tying three pointer with one second remaining on the clock but that shot was deflected as time expired.
New Haven will play a single game over the next 10 days when they travel to Saint Rose on Saturday, February 6. Tip off against the Golden Knights is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium, with the men's game the second in a doubleheader with the women's team.
