WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Six straight games with 20-plus for senior point Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) as he led the University of New Haven men's basketball team (10-6, 7-4 NE10) to its fourth-straight victory, defeating the previously 9-2 in the Northeast-10 Merrimack Warriors 77-75 on Wednesday night at Charger Gymnasium.
Upchurch was one of three players for New Haven to finish in double figures, joined by sophomores Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who finished with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Senior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) finished just shy of double figures with nine points, while three other players contributed on the offensive end.
As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 45.9 percent from the field (28-of-61). Including in the Chargers 28 total field goals were a dozen from beyond the three point arc, nine of which came in the opening half as Upchurch and Bailey combined to shoot 7-of-9 from long range in the first 20 minutes alone.
The Blue and Gold also added nine point at the free throw line, including the first of two for Upchurch with four seconds remaining, however the Warriors were unable to get the ball over midcourt on the final possession leading to the Chargers victory.
New Haven also finished the game with a 34-27 advantage on the boards, led by Felizor who pulled in a season-high 12 rebounds. Kane and Upchurch followed with six and five rebounds, respectively. Included in the Chargers 34 total rebounds were 13 on the offensive end, as the Blue and Gold turned those into 11 second chance points.
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
· Merrimack looked to pull away early in the game when they answered a 6-6 stalemate by scoring eight straight to take a 14-6 lead with 13:46 to play in the half.
· Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) came off the bench to break up the Merrimack momentum when he drained his first of back-to-back three pointers, both of which came courtesy of assistance from Tommy Hunt (Smithfield, R.I./St. Andrew's).
· Those two buckets sparked a 22-9 run for the Chargers that spanned just over six minutes and resulted in the first lead changes of the evening and an eventual five point New Haven lead.
· The Blue and Gold held onto that lead until the final three minutes when New Haven answered three pointers from Merrimack with matching baskets from Upchurch, all resulting in a draw at the half, 38-38.
· Upchurch led all players in the game in the first half as he finished with half of his 24 points, all of which came from beyond the three point arc where he finished 4-of-5. Bailey also scored all of his points from long range as he finished 3-of-4 for nine points in the half.
· Overall, New Haven shot 56.3 percent in the opening half, connecting on 9-of-16 attempts.
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
· Upchurch and Bailey looked to continue the three point success in the second half as each would drain one from outside the arc for the first two New Haven buckets of half. Bailey would strike first, with Upchurch following nearly two minutes into the half, with Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) providing the assist on both.
· The three pointer for Upchurch began a stretch where the Chargers maintained an advantage for nearly 10 minutes, building as much as an eight point lead during that stretch. That lead came at the 13:34 mark when Kane drained a jumper thanks to a pass from Joseph Doganiero (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro).
· Merrimack answered that deficit with back-to-back three pointers from Khalief Crawford which came just 23 second apart. Those two buckets began an 11-2 run that resulted in a 58-57 Warriors lead.
· The Chargers responded to that by rattling off the next seven points and never looked back from that point and eventually built the largest lead of the game at 72-63 courtesy of a Kane jump shot.
· Merrimack managed to cut the Chargers lead to one with 10 seconds remaining before sending Upchurch to the line with four seconds to play. The senior point guard sank his first attempt before coming up short on the second, however the Warriors were unable to advance over half court on the last ditch possession.
UP NEXT
The Chargers will play a single road game before returning to Charger Gym when they continue cross-divisional play on Saturday afternoon in Easton, Mass. against the Stonehill Skyhawks. Tip off against the Skyhawks is slated for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game. New Haven returns to Charger Gym one week from today when they host Franklin Pierce in the penultimate game against the Northeast Division.
