PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – In less than two seasons senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) has dished out 308 assists, with his eight today pushing him into the top-10 all-time in program history as he added a game-high 28 points to lead the University of New Haven men's basketball team to a 76-73 win over the visiting Adelphi Panthers. With the win, the Chargers secure a second-straight and fifth postseason berth under eighth year head coach Ted Hotaling in the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference Championship.

Upchurch's 28 points was his 12th game of the season with 20-plus and the ninth time he has hit that mark in the last 11 games. Overall, he was one of four players in double figures with sophomore Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) coming off the bench to follow him with 14 points. Sophomore forward Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) completed his first double double of the season with 10 points added to a game-best 11 rebounds while Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) rounded out the leaders with 11 points.

As a team, New Haven finished the afternoon shooting 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field with 10 of their 24 total field goals coming from outside the three point arc. The Chargers also capitalized at the free throw line where they converted all but two of their 20 attempts for a 90-percent performance.  Individually, Upchurch led the Chargers shooting efforts, connecting on more than half of his attempts with a 9-of-17 effort, while finishing perfect at the free throw line in eight attempts.

Felizor's 11 rebounds was part of 38 total as the Chargers closed out the game with a 38-28 advantage on the rebounding battle. The 10-rebound differential is the third highest margin for the Chargers this season, while the Blue and Gold improves to 12-1 when outrebounding their opponent.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         After surrendering the first bucket of the game, the Chargers responded by rattling off the next five for the game's first tie and lead change. Overall, the first five minutes included three stalemates before New Haven took a 9-7 lead thanks to Upchurch driving to the hoop for a pair. That bucket began a span of more than 13 minutes where New Haven maintained the lead.

·         The largest lead in that span came with 5:09 remaining when Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Rowland went back-to-back from outside the three point arc to extend the advantage to eight, 25-17. Rowland had a hand in both of those shots as he provided Bailey with the rock for the first of those buckets.

·         The Panthers responded to that deficit by closing out the half on a 16-5 run that covered the final 3:33 of the period and resulted in a 33-30 Adelphi lead at the break. The final five points of the half for New Haven came courtesy of a three pointer from Kane and a layup from Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) with both of those buckets thanks to passes from Upchurch.

·         The Chargers point guard closed out the half leading all players in the game with nine points while dishing out four assists. Just behind him in the scoring column for the Blue and Gold was Rowland who dropped in eight.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         A back-and-forth battle ensued for the first few minutes of the second half before New Haven found itself trailing by six, but responded by rattling off six straight to tie the game at 41. All six points in that run came from Upchurch has he sandwiched a pair of layups with a perfect trip to the free throw line.

·         Just over four minutes later, Kane would provide a pair of three pointers that resulted in another tie, this the seventh of the game and coming at 51-51. Both of Kane's buckets from long range came off passes from Rowland, while his two three-point buckets came with a dunk from Adelphi's Terrel Martin-Garcia stuck in the middle.

·         Three more stalemates would follow with Adelphi's Doug Chappell providing a layup in all three instances that knotted the score up. The final of those draws came at 60-60 with Upchurch breaking up that tie with a three pointer at the 6:08 mark.

·         After trading baskets over the next two minutes, the Panthers took a one-point advantage that was short lived as Upchurch responded with an and-one that provided a 69-67 lead, one the Chargers wouldn't relinquish over the final four minutes.

·         The biggest play down the stretch for New Haven came with 12 seconds remaining when Larcher came in from behind on a layup attempt knocking the ball out of shooters hands with Rowland coming away with the rebound. He would head to the line where he made 1-of-2 attempts while a deep three pointer in the final seconds from Adelphi's Jack Laffey was off the mark as time expired.

·         Upchurch again led all players in the half when he finished with 19 points on a 6-of-9 effort from the field, while going a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Felizor also completed his double double in the second half putting up eight points and pulling down seven boards in 14 minutes of work.

UP NEXT
It will be a quick turnaround for the Chargers as they close out a two-game home stand on Tuesday night when they host the Pace Setters in a Southwest Divisional match-up. Tip off against Pace is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. following the women's game.