WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A three point attempt as time expired fell short of forcing overtime as the University of New Haven men's basketball team (7-6, 2-5 Northeast-10) dropped a 68-65 decision on the road at Merrimack top open up the 2017 portion of its schedule. Leading a trio of Chargers on the evening was junior Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) who completed his 12th game of the season in double figures with 14 points.

Upchurch finished out the game shooting 5-of-14 overall with three of those buckets coming from outside the three point arc. He also finished among the rebounding leaders with eight boards, while adding six assists. Joining him in leading the scoring efforts was junior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) (13 points) and sophomore Michael Bourke (South Orange, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) who chipped in 12 points, all of which came from long range.

As a team, New Haven shot 34.3 percent from the field, making 23-of-67 field goal attempts with nine coming from beyond the three point stripe. The Chargers also finished 10-of-16 from the free throw line. All nine of the Blue and Gold's three pointers came in the opening half as they took a 42-31 lead into the intermission.

The Chargers also finished the game with a 42-38 lead in the battle of the boards, led by Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who pulled in 10, his 10th game of the season leading the team in rebounding. In addition to Upchurch's eight rebounds, all but one of the eight players who saw time finished with at least one rebound. Felizor also chipped in eight points and a pair of blocks.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·         Upchurch opened up the contest with the first points of the game on a bucket from beyond the arc thanks to a feed from Bourke. That three pointer was part of nine total for the Chargers in the opening half, three more than the first half of any previous game this season.

·         Another basket by Upchurch, this time a jumper with 12:36 remaining before the break, provided the final lead change as New Haven took its second straight double digit lead into the halftime intermission, leading Merrimack 42-31.

·         That jumper was part of an 11-2 run for the Chargers that opened up their largest lead to that point, an eight points 27-19 advantage with just shy of nine minutes remaining before the break.

·         The Blue and Gold would use another rally, this time scoring 15-of-18 points to take their first double digit lead and their largest lead of the opening half, 42-26 with 2:15 remaining. All 15 points during that run came on three point plays, starting out with an old fashioned three point play from Vasic with three pointers from Hunt (two), Upchurch and Bourke all rounding out the scoring.

·         Bourke led the Chargers going into the locker room, finishing 18 minutes of action with a dozen points, all of which came on 4-of-8 shooting from outside the arc. Upchurch finished just behind him with 11 points on 4-of-8 overall, three of which came from beyond the three point stripe.

·         As a team, the Chargers shot 43.2 percent, their best shooting half of the game. Included in that was a 47.4 percent effort from long range as they finished with nine three pointers in 19 attempts.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·         Merrimack came out of the intermission and held the Chargers without a bucket for nearly three minutes to open the second half, cutting their deficit to seven, 42-35. Vasic ended the New Haven drought when he scored on a layup with 16:52 remaining.

·         That bucket for Vasic was part of six straight points for the Blue and Gold as they regained a double digit lead at 48-35.

·         Merrimack's defense again picked up its pace following those six straight points for New Haven as they went on a 16-3 run that knotted the game at 51 with 10:36 to play. During that stretch, the Chargers only points came at the free throw line, while another layup from Vasic broke this drought.

·         The squads would trade leads the remainder of the game with neither team leading by more than three points down the stretch. The Warriors capitalized on a late foul to gain the final three point advantage, while a three pointer at the buzzer was unable to force an extra period.

·         Vasic and freshman Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) led the Chargers in the second half as each finished with eight points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

·         The 42-38 advantage on the boards marks the ninth time that New Haven has outrebounded its opponent, sporting a 6-3 record in those games.

·         The nine three points in the first half for the Chargers is the most in a half this season for the Blue and Gold two more than the previous high in a single half of seven in the second half against Saint Thomas Aquinas.

·         Upchurch has now dished out five or more assists in all but two games, extending his team lead to 83 assists, the most in a single season since 2014-15 when Eric Anderson dished out 104.

·         Freshman Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) continued his team dominance on the rebounding front, pulling in double digit boards for the fifth time while leading the team in the rebounding battle for the 10th time in 13 games.

NEXT ON TAP
New Haven continues a two-game trek away from the West Haven campus over the weekend when its travels to Bentley for a second straight game in the Bay State. Tip off in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team is slated for 3:30 p.m. at the Dana Center.