COLCHESTER, Vt. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team fought off a furious late rally by Saint Michael's to hold on for a 72-66 road victory on Tuesday night at the Ross Sports Center. Leading the Chargers on the night was senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) who finished his fourth straight game with 20-plus scoring, dropping 22 total for the evening.
Upchurch was one of two Chargers in double figures overall, joined by sophomore Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who chipped in 10 points, while four other players all finished with eight; Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia), Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School), Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) and Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian).
Overall, New Haven finished the contest shooting 45.9 percent from the field, connecting on 17-of-32, which included 11 three pointers. Individually, Upchurch finished the night shooting 50 percent, making half of his 14 field goal attempts, including a trio of three pointers. Kane finished with just one missed bucket in five attempts.
In addition to his 22 points, Upchurch flirted with a triple double, closing out the night with seven rebounds and eight assists, while also finishing with a pair of steals. With his 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, Upchurch led the team in the three major statistical categories, the second time this season he has led the way in all three.
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
· The Chargers opened up the game scoring the first three buckets of the night and never looked back. All three of those first baskets came from different players with Vasic opening up the scoring and Larcher and Upchurch following in his footsteps.
· It took less than eight minutes for the Chargers to open up their first double digit advantage, which came courtesy of back-to-back three pointers from Upchurch and Bailey that resulted in a 19-8 lead.
· The Purple Knights would only get as close as 13 the remainder of the opening half as New Haven held Saint Michael's to just 34.6 percent from the field (9-of-26) in the first half. On the other end of the court, New Haven shot 53.1 percent in the first half, making 17 field goals in 32 attempts, including four three pointers.
· New Haven used a balanced attack in the opening half with seven different players providing offense. Leading the way was Upchurch who led all players in the game with 10 first half points. Bailey followed him with eight points.
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
· The two squads went back and forth through the first three minutes of the second half, however after Saint Michael's pulled within 13 at the 17:21 mark, the Chargers rattled off 13 straight points to open up a 26 point lead with 12:04 remaining.
· Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) opened up that rally scoring the first three points, while four total players provided offense with Kane capping it off with a layup thanks to a feed from Larcher.
· New Haven saw its largest lead of the night come after a 90 second scoring drought for both teams with Upchurch breaking the scoring silence with a jumper with 9:31 remaining that provided a 39-66 lead.
· The Chargers would muster just one more field goal the remainder of the game, that coming with 6:12 remaining when Vasic converted off a steal on the other end. From that point, the Purple Knights managed to cut the lead to as low as five point scoring 17 straight before a pair of free throws from Upchurch broke the momentum.
· Those two free throws were the first of a perfect 4-of-4 at the line for Upchurch as he closed out the game scoring New Haven's final four points, all at the line.
· Upchurch again led seven New Haven players who scored in the second half, this time with the senior point guard dropping in a dozen.
UP NEXT
New Haven returns to Charger Gym for the first of back-to-back home games on Saturday, January 13 when they welcome the Bentley Falcons. Tip-off in the cross-divisional match-up is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game.
