WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team was unable to capitalize on a final possession with three seconds remaining, dropping an 80-79 decision to the visiting Saint Anselm Hawks in cross-divisional Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday. Leading all players in the game was senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) who finished with 21 points, while dishing out six assists and pulling down five boards.

Upchurch was one of four players in double figures for the Chargers, including a trio of starters. Joining him was sophomores Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who finished with 18 points, redshirt freshman Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who chipped in 11 and senior Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) who added 10.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 48.5 percent with an impressive opening half shooting performance of 58.1 percent on 18-of-31. The Chargers also finished the first half connecting on seven of 12 three point attempts (58.3 percent), while only able to convert three more from long range in the second half (on 13 attempts).

The two squads, who saw 17 total lead changes in the game, also finished the game knotted in the rebound battle, each pulling down 35 boards. Leading the way individually was Vasic who finished with eight boards, while junior Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) hauled in seven rebounds.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         New Haven came out of the gates to score the first five points of the night, opening up with a three pointer from senior Joseph Doganiero (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro), his first of two in the game. Following a pair of off the mark three pointers from the Hawks, Vasic put his first points on the board on the Chargers second possession, opening up an early 5-0 advantage just 55 seconds into the action.

·         The Chargers would maintain that lead until the first of four-straight lead changes resulted in Saint Anselm's first lead with 15:51 remaining before the break. The final of those lead changes fell in favor of New Haven with a three pointer from Upchurch providing a 12-10 lead just shy of five minutes into the action.

·         The Blue and Gold held onto that lead for the next 10 minutes before a pair of foul shots from Gustav Suhr-Jessen provided the fifth lead change of the contest with 5:08 remaining. Following those two free throws, the teams would change leads six more times before the intermission, before a three pointer from Upchurch with 15 seconds remaining knotted the contest at 45 which would hold going into the break.

·         Upchurch led all scorers in the first half, finishing with 12 points on a 5-of-9 shooting effort. Bailey followed him with eight points while Rowland added seven. The Chargers also held a 16-14 edge in the rebounding battle at the intermission with Vasic and Upchurch each pulling down three boards.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         Despite the Hawks having the opening possession, New Haven would again open up the second half scoring first with Larcher converting the first field goal thanks to an assist from Upchurch. Even with a pair of tie scores, New Haven would hold onto that early second half lead for nearly six minutes before Taylor Fortin broke a 54-54 draw with an unassisted layup.

·         This time around it would be the Hawks who held onto the lead for an extended period as New Haven wouldn't regain an advantage until the 9:07 mark when Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) converted a layup thanks to some help form Upchurch.

·         Following a series of three ties that spanned just under two minutes on the clock, Saint Anselm took a lead on a layup from Chris Paul with 4:09 to play and never relinquished that advantage, despite building as much as a five-point advantage with 38 seconds remaining.

·         New Haven answered that five point deficit with a three pointer from Upchurch before Paul was unable to convert the front end of a one-and-one opportunity providing the Chargers with an opportunity to tie or take the lead with 15 seconds remaining.

·         Upchurch would be fouled with six seconds remaining and convert the front end of the two-shot foul. New Haven was able to control the rebound on the missed second attempt, but unable to get a shot off in the final three seconds as Saint Anselm squeaked out the 80-79 victory.

·         Bailey led New Haven's second half scoring efforts as he finished with 10 points, the only player in double figures. Upchurch finished just behind him with nine.

UP NEXT
New Haven returns to the road for the first time in over a month when it plays the next two games away from Charger Gym, taking on Assumption and Saint Michael's. First on the docket will be a visit to Worcester, Mass. to meet the Greyhounds on Saturday, January 6. Opening tip against Assumption is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game, both of which will take place at Laska Gymnasium.