WEST HAVEN, Conn.- Eight different players contributed on offense but the University of New Haven men's basketball team (5-2, 3-2 NE10) was unable to find a rhythm, falling to the visiting Pace Setters (7-2, 4-1 NE10) 57-52 on Tuesday night at Charger Gymnasium.
Leading the Blue and Gold on the night was redshirt sophomore guard Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who finished with 14 points, the only New Haven player to reach double figures. He closed out the night shooting 6-of-14 from the field, while as a team, the Chargers shot 40.7 percent overall on 22-of-54, while connecting just three times from outside the three point arc, two of which didn't come until the final two minutes of the game.
Joining Rowland in leading the Chargers offensively was junior Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who finished with nine points and junior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and freshman Kendall McMillan (Baltimore, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) who each chipped in eight points. McMillan led all of New Haven's players from the field as he finished without missing any of his four field goal attempts.
In addition to his nine points, Kane led New Haven in the rebounding column, pulling down seven boards, part of 30 total for the Blue and Gold. Overall, the Chargers trailed in the battle of the board by a 36-30 margin, while both teams finished with an even 26 points in the paint. New Haven held an 18-16 advantage in points off turnovers, forcing the Setters into 19 mishandles.
After allowing Pace to score the first points of the game on a three pointer, New Haven rallied, rattling off 10 straight points to take a 10-3 advantage, all just barely five minutes into the game. All 10 of those points came on two-point buckets, with a pair coming on fast break opportunities from Darius Roundtree (Plainfield, N.J./The Patrick School) and Rowland.
The Chargers would maintain an advantage until the final minute of the opening half. During its time with the lead, New Haven built up as much as a nine point margin which came at 20-11 on a jump shot from Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown). The Setters then began to whittle away at the New Haven lead, eventually scoring the final eight points of the half, holding the Chargers scoreless over the final three minutes of action.
A fast break bucket with 58 seconds remaining would knot the game at 24 before the Setters closed out the half with a layup, taking a 26-24 advantage into the locker room. After the break, the momentum continued for Pace, scoring the first five points to take a 31-24 lead less than two minutes in.
New Haven would cut that lead down to a single possession on a layup from Rowland, but Pace continued to put the pressure on, building a double digit lead five minutes into the half on a fast break three pointer.
Overall, Pace extended its lead to as much as 11 on four different occasions, the final of which came with 2:37 remaining. At that point, the Chargers began to mount a comeback effort, cutting the lead to as little as three in the final seconds before a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining iced the Setters victory.
New Haven will close out its first half of NE10 Southwest Division play on Saturday afternoon with their longest conference road trip of the year to Syracuse, N.Y. for a date with the LeMoyne Dolphins. Tip off from Ted Grant Court is slated for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game.
