WEST HAVEN, Conn. – For the second time in as many home games, the New Haven men's basketball team (11-7, 6-6 NE10) used a buzzer beater to knock off its opponent, defeating the Northeast-10 Northeast Division leader Southern New Hampshire 81-79. This time around freshman Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) laid in the game-winner with 6.0 seconds remaining off a feed through the middle from junior Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) while an attempt at a game-winner for the Penmen was off the mark.

Felizor was one of five Chargers who finished in double figures as he completed his fourth double double and second over the last three games with 14 points and tied his career-high with 18 rebounds. Leading all New Haven scorers on the day was Upchurch and freshman Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who each chipped in 18 points with Bailey's coming on 7-of-9 shooting including a pair of three pointers.

Rounding out the leading scorers was junior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) (16 points) and Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) (11) with Vasic leading all shooters in the game connecting on all but one of his eight field goal attempts. Upchurch also closed out the day with six assists and a pair of steals.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 54.2 percent, the second time in the last three games shooting 50 percent or better, on 32-of-59, including seven three pointers. The Chargers also combined to finish 10-of-13 at the free throw line. The Blue and Gold also capped off the day with a 32-30 advantage on the boards, led by Felizor's 18, six of which came on the offensive glass. Following Felizor in the rebounding column was Vasic who pulled in four boards.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·         After facing an early 7-2 deficit, the Chargers rebounded to score six straight for the second of nine first half lead changes. All six points in that rally came from two players with Upchurch drilling a three pointer and Vasic completing an old fashioned three point play thanks to a helper from Upchurch.

·         Following that lead change, the two teams would swap advantages seven times over the next 10 minutes before the Penmen took a lead they wouldn't relinquish the remainder of the half. Overall, the first half featured nine total lead changes and six tie scores.

·         During that 10 minute stretch, the Blue and Gold never led by more than two points with that advantage coming three different times, the last of which courtesy of a three pointer from Bailey off a feed from Upchurch.  

·         Bailey and Upchurch each led the way for New Haven in the opening half as both contributed 10 points including a perfect performance from the field for Bailey as he went 3-for-3 with a pair of three pointers and made both of his free throw attempts.

·         As a team, New Haven shot 58.3 percent from the field, the second best first half shooting of the season. Overall, the Chargers finished 14-of-24 with five of those baskets from outside the three point stripe. At one point in the half, the Chargers were shooting a blistering 81.8 percent as they connected on nine of their first 11 field goal attempts, which led at the time of the ninth field goal to a 23-21 advantage.   

SECOND HALF NOTES

·         The Chargers came out of the intermission to again hit the first bucket, a jumper from Kane 22 seconds into the action.

·         The Penmen answered that by scoring eight of the next 10 points to gain their largest lead of the game at nine with 17:40 remaining.

·         Facing an eight point deficit about two minutes later, the Blue and Gold began to chip into the SNHU lead as a three pointer from Upchurch with 15:02 remaining began the swing.

·         The Chargers then used a stretch where they connected on three straight field goals to cut the Penmen lead to two, 61-59, with 12:30 remaining. Unable to tie the score at that point, New Haven again pulled within a bucket with 5:40 remaining thanks to a jumper from Bailey, the second of back-to-back baskets from the rookie guard.

·         This time around, the Chargers managed to tie the score for the first time in over 20 minutes of action as Upchurch scored on a jumper in the paint with 4:49 remaining. That bucket began a stretch of nearly four minutes where the Penmen scored two points and New Haven answered, leading to tie scores at 73, 75 and 77.

·         A defensive stop at 77 for New Haven led to the Chargers first lead of the second half thanks to a jumper from Vasic. SNHU answered by tying the score at 79 on a pair of free throws before the final points of the game came as the shot clock expired on the Chargers. Upchurch drove through the middle of the lane and passed to the baseline where Felizor collected and laid the rock up and in for the 81-79 advantage.

·         Leading the Blue and Gold in the second half was Vasic who finished with nine points while four others all contributed eight points; Upchruch, Felizor, Kane and Bailey. As a team, New Haven made 51.4 percent of their field goal attempts, 18-of-35.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

·         The double double for Felizor was the 10th of the season for New Haven and his fourth of the year, having completed a double double in each of the last two home games. He also matched his career high with 18 rebounds, originally set in the NE10 opener against Le Moyne back on November 16.

·         The 54.2 percent shooting effort for New Haven is the second straight home game New Haven has shot 50 percent or better and the fourth time this season they have made more than half of their total field goal attempts.

·         New Haven's 32-30 advantage on the boards represents the 10th game in the last 11 that the Chargers have finished with the same or more rebounds than its opponent. In that stretch, New Haven is 8-3.

·         The win for the Blue and Gold completed a second-straight men's/women's sweep for the Chargers while also inching head coach Ted Hotaling closer to the century mark, now with 98 career victories

·         The win for the Chargers also represented the fourth straight for New Haven, a season long win streak, while the Blue and Gold have now knocked off the first and second place teams in the NE10 Northeast Division in back-to-back games.

·         With today's result, New Haven now stands at 6-6 overall in NE10 play which is fifth in the NE10 Southwest Division and four games ahead of Pace and AIC in the standings.

·         A pair of newcomers to the Chargers roster this season continued their dominance of late with Vasic increasing his averages over the last nine games to 13.2 points while shooting 70 percent from the field and Kane increasing his average over the last seven games to 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds.

TWEETABLES (140 characters or less)

·         Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) scored the game-winner for @GoChargersMBB as they scored their second straight buzzer beater victory in as many home games

·         .@GoChargersMBB had five players finish in double figures for the third time this season including Upchurch and Bailey each with 18 points

·         Felizor completed his 2nd double double in the last 3 games and the 4th of his career, which included tying his career-high with 18 rebounds

·         As a team, @GoChargersMBB shot 54.2 percent in the victory, the fourth time this season shooting 50 percent or better

·         Vasic finished with 16 points, his sixth straight game in double figures, and is now averaging 14.8 points over the last six games

NEXT ON TAP
New Haven closes out a two-game home stand with a midweek battle against the Saint Michael's Purple Knights, the penultimate game against a Northeast Division rival. Tip off in the first game of a doubleheader with the women's team is slated for 5:30 p.m.