WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) put up a career-high 32 points as the University of New Haven men's basketball team dropped a 75-67 decision to the visiting Southern Connecticut State Owls on Wednesday night at Charger Gym. Upchurch's 32 points came on a 10-of-14 performance from the field which included tying his career high with five three pointers, while he was also 7-of-8 at the free throw line.

Upchurch was the only New Haven player to finish in double figures with sophomore Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) second overall with nine points while senior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) and junior Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) chipped in eight and Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) added seven. Vasic and Larcher continued to impress from the field as the pair combined to make seven of 10 field goal attempts. As a team, New Haven finished the night shooting 44.2 percent, stepping up their performance in the second half along where they connected on 52.2 percent (12-of-23).

For the third straight game, New Haven was outrebounded by its opponent with the Owls finishing with a 36-27 advantage. Leading the way for the Chargers was Kane who finished with six boards while Upchurch pulled down five, while also dishing out a team-high four assists.
 
FIRST HALF NOTES:

·         Southern Connecticut opened up the game making all but two of their first nine field goal attempts, pushing to a 9-0 opening rally that was extended to a 17-2 advantage less than four minutes into the action.

·         New Haven responded with an 11-2 run of their own that cut the Owls lead down to six points less than five minutes later. All 11 points in that run came from Upchurch as he drilled a trio of three pointers and drove to the hoop for two.

·         The Blue and Gold would cut the Owls lead to as little as three before Southern regained a double digit lead, which they took into the break.

·         Upchurch led all players in the opening half, finishing with 14 of his 32 total points, connecting on 5-of-7 from the field, including four three pointers.

SECOND HALF NOTES:

·         New Haven came out of the break scoring the first five points to cut Southern Connecticut's halftime advantage back into single digits. Larcher and Upchurch would combine to sink the first two buckets of the half, with Upchurch hitting his fifth from outside the arc.

·         Overall, the Chargers would get no closer than seven point deficit in the second half, the final of which came late in the game when the Blue and Gold cut its largest shortage of the night, 14, in half, using a 7-0 run that all came from Upchurch.

·         Overall, Upchurch finished the second half with 18 points, making all but two of his seven field goal attempts while adding seven points, in eight tries, at the free throw line.

UP NEXT
New Haven will cap off its first homestand of the season on Saturday when they host the Saint Rose Golden Knights at Charger Gym. Tip off in the NE10 Southwest divisional battle is slated for 3:00 p.m. following the women's game. Fans unable to attend the game can follow the action live courtesy of the Charger Sports Network or follow along with Live Stats.