Hot Shooting Owls Sink Chargers in Elm City Battle

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Led by the 11th game of the season with 20-plus from senior Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic), the University of New Haven men's basketball team dropped a 94-75 decision on the road against crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State. Upchurch closed out the game with a team-high 23 points while connecting on 50-percent of his field goal attempts (7-of-14).

Joining Upchurch in leading the Blue and Gold was sophomores Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) and Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who finished with 15 and 13 points respectively. Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) and Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) finished just shy of double figures with nine and eight points, respectively.

As a team, New Haven finished the night shooting 46.2 percent from the field (24-of-52), including five field goals from outside the three point arc. The Chargers also closed out the night matching their season-high with 22 free throws, those coming on 29 attempts for a 75.9 percent average. The Owls finished the game shooting 54.4 percent, including making an impressive 17 three pointers which came on 26 attempts (65.4 percent).

FIRST HALF NOTES

·         Southern Connecticut came out of the gates and shot lights out, quickly opening up a 14-2 lead using just over four minutes on the clock.

·         New Haven broke that double digit lead for the first time in the half with 11:51 remaining before the intermission when Upchurch drained his second three pointer of the half off a feed from Rowland.

·         Facing its largest deficit of the half with just shy of eight minutes remaining, the Chargers looked to make a run, cutting their deficit to single digits rattling off seven straight points. Defensively, the Chargers held Southern Connecticut without a field goal for more than four minutes allowing for the run.

·         The Owls closed out the half with an 8-3 run to take a 14 points lead into the break, 47-33. The final three points of the half for New Haven all came from Upchurch as he converted a fast break layup with two minutes remaining and picked up one point at the free throw line which provided the final margin of the half.

·         Upchurch led the Chargers in the opening half as the only player in double figures with a dozen points. The senior point guard shot 4-of-7 from the field, including a pair of three pointers, while also converting two free throw attempts. He also led the Chargers with three assists and pulled down four boards.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·         New Haven came out of the gates in the second half scoring first with Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) converting a layup just seven seconds into the action. The Owls hot shooting in the opening half would continue however as they quickly extended their lead to 20 points less than five minutes into the action.

·         Facing its largest deficit of the night, 26, the Chargers looked to make a run midway through the second half when they used a 6-1 run before the Owls answered with six unanswered points of their own.

·         Upchurch would again finish in double figures over the second half, netting 11 points en route to his team-high 23.

UP NEXT
The Chargers return to West Haven for their second-to-last home stand when they will host the Adelphi Panthers and the Pace Setters. First on the docket will be a visit from Adelphi which is slated for Saturday, February 3. Tip off against the Panthers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game. That game will also serve as the Coaches for Literacy game where all fans who bring a book to donate will receive free admission.