ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore guard Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) led the Chargers in scoring for the fourth time this season, finishing with 19 points as the New Haven men's basketball team dropped an 84-68 decision on the road at Saint Rose on Saturday.

Joining Bailey as the only other Charger in double figures was senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) who chipped in 16 points, just his third game in the last 13 with under 20 points. Combined, the two leading scorers finished with 13 field goals in 27 attempts, an average just under 50-percent for the contest. The pair also combined to finish with a trio of three pointers, while Bailey took advantage of being sent to the free throw line where he finished a perfect 5-of-5.

Joining in on the scoring was sophomores Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) and Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who finished with eight and seven points, respectively, while overall, 10 different players all contributed to the offense. As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 44.4 percent with 24 field goals in 54 attempts. Among the 24 field goals were six from outside the three point arc, while the Chargers combined to go 14-of-17 at the free throw line for an 82.4 percent average.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         New Haven opened up the game from behind after allowing the opening bucket to the Golden nights, a three pointer from Jamaal Greenwood. The Chargers would respond by tying the game at five points apiece thanks to the Blue and Gold's first three pointer which came from Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School), who scored all of the first five points.

·         The Chargers would manage their only lead of the game with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half when they strung together a series of six-straight points that resulted in a 13-12 lead. Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) would provide the first two and final two points in the rally while the middle two came courtesy of a pair of free throws from Michael Bourke (South Orange, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton).

·         The Golden Knights then took control of the contest with a 23-2 run that spanned 6:27 of the opening half with the only points in that duration for New Haven a dunk from Felizor.

·         The Blue and Gold responded by scoring five straight points and closed out the half outscoring the home team 11-7 over the final four minutes to end the period trailing 42-26.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         Coming out of the intermission, Saint Rose extended their lead beyond 20 points using a 10-2 run to open the half. That run concluded with the Golden Knights leading 52-28.

·         New Haven responded to that deficit by scoring five straight on an old fashioned three point play from Rowland and a jumper for Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia).

·         Trailing by 26, the Chargers looked to begin some momentum when they rattled off 10 points, matched by just four for the Golden Knights, over a span of under two minutes, but Saint Rose wouldn't relinquish.

·         Down the stretch, New Haven would hold Saint Rose off the scoreboard for the final 96 seconds of the contest, during which time the Chargers would muster five points all coming from Hunt as he drained a three pointer before converting on a fast break opportunity after picking off the pass on the other end.

UP NEXT
New Haven returns to Charger Gymnasium for the final time in the regular season when they host back-to-back games against Bloomfield and American International. Tip-off against Bloomfield is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday (2/13). The regular season home finale against AIC is scheduled for Saturday, February 17 with tip-off set for 3:30 p.m. Prior to the game, the Chargers will honor four seniors; Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic), Joseph Doganiero (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro), Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) and Tommy Hunt (Smithfield, R.I./St. Andrew's).