WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Freshman Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) closed out his first collegiate double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the University of New Haven men's basketball team (11-8, 6-7 NE10) in a 66-63 loss to the visiting Saint Michael's Purple Knights. The loss for New Haven snapped a four-game win streak, while Kane becomes the fifth player this season to score 20 or more.

Joining Kane in leading the Chargers was sophomore Michael Bourke (South Orange, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) and junior Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 41.9 percent from the field, connecting on 26-of-62 with five of those field goals from outside the three point arc.

Kane's 10 rebounds led the Chargers en route to a 37-34 on the boards, the 11th time in the last 13 games the Blue and Gold have outrebounded their opponent. Following Kane in leading New Haven was freshman Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) and junior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) who each pulled in eight rebounds.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·         The Chargers opened up the game with Kane hitting his first three shot attempts of night, the first two of which came courtesy of passes from Vasic. Overall, those three buckets came on the Chargers first four attempts from the field.

·         Overall, the first half included 11 lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points with those largest leads coming in the very first minutes for the Chargers and the final minute of the half for the Purple Knights.

·         Kane led all scorers in the opening half as he finished with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while also pulling down five boards. Adding to making his first two field goals in the opening minute, Kane went on to make his first four field goal attempts without a miss, spanning nearly eight minutes in the opening half.

·         Overall, seven players finished with at least a pair in the scoring column with Upchurch following Kane with five. As a team, the Chargers shot 43.8 percent from the field, making 14-of-32.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·         Saint Michael's came out of the intermission to score six of the first eight points to open up the largest lead of the game for either team, seven with 16:35 remaining.

·         The Chargers responded to that early rally from the Purple Knights by scoring 22 of the next 26 points and opening up the first double digit lead of the night courtesy of back-to-back three pointers from Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Bourke. That lead, 56-45, came with 7:47 remaining in the game.

·         Including that lead, the Chargers held an advantage against Saint Michael's for more than a 10:30 stretch with the final lead change of the night coming with 18 seconds left as the Purple Knights converted a pair of free throws.

·         Trailing by three with just over a second remaining, the Chargers were unable to get a shot attempt in the final second as the Purple Knights held on to break the four-game win streak.

·         Kane and Bourke combined to lead the Chargers in the second half, each finishing with eight points. Six of Bourke's eight came from outside the arc while the remaining two came on a perfect trip to the free throw line.

·         As a team, the Chargers shot 40 percent in the second half, making 12-of-30 field goal attempts with three coming from outside the arc.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

·         Kane becomes the fifth player this season to score 20 or more points in a game, setting his career high of 21 points while completing his first collegiate double double with a career-best 10 rebounds.

·         The 10 field goals made for Kane (10-of-20) ties a season high for all players and is just the second time this season a Charger has made at least 10 field goals with the first Vasic against Stonehill (10-of-12).

·         Kane's 21 points pushes his current streak of double figure scoring games to six straight, as he increased his career-high on a pair of occasions during that stretch.

TWEETABLES (140 characters or less)

·         Freshman Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) led @GoChargersMBB with his first collegiate double double on career-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds

·         .@GoChargersMBB outrebounded SMC 37-34, having now finished with the same or more boards than their opponent in 11 of the last 12 games

NEXT ON TAP
New Haven begins a two-game road swing with its final match-up against an NE10 Northeast Division rival when they travel to Saint Anselm for a Saturday afternoon battle. Tip off against the Hawks is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., following the women's game.