Chargers Lead End-to-End in 81-68 Home Win over Pace

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team opened up the game with back-to-back three pointers and never looked back as they scored their 13th victory of the season over the Pace Setters 81-68 at Charger Gymnasium. Leading the Blue and Gold on the night was sophomore Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who completed his second collegiate double double with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Kane was one of three players in double figures for the night as senior point guard Danny Upchurch (Bridgeport, Conn./Notre Dame Catholic) drained a game-high for both teams with 28 points as he now has a baker's dozen games with 20 or more points. Overall 10 of Upchurch's 13 20-plus performances have come in the last 12 games. Rounding out the leading scorers was sophomore Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who also finished 5-of-10 from outside the arc and closed out the game with 22 points.

As a team, New Haven finished the night shooting 48.3 percent from the field, connecting on 28 field goals in 58 attempts, while more than half of those field goals came from outside the arc where the Chargers finished 15-of-37. The 15 three-point field goals represents the first time since February 2016 that the Chargers finished with more three pointers than two-point buckets.

The Blue and Gold also finished the game with a 39-30 advantage in the rebounding battle with Kane's 15 rebounds leading all players. Upchurch also led New Haven with eight assists while Felizor followed him with four.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         The Chargers opened up the night scoring the game's first six points all from outside the arc with Joseph Doganiero (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) and Kane each connecting from long range. Defensively, New Haven held Pace off the scoreboard for nearly two minutes to start the contest.

·         The closest Pace would get the rest of the way would be three points which came just shy of five minutes into the game, while the Chargers built their first double digit lead of the night just over halfway through the frame when Bailey went back-to-back from outside the arc scoring those two buckets within a 33 second span.

·         The Chargers largest lead in the opening half came following a 7-0 run that spanned 2:42 and resulted in a 32-17 lead with 3:20 to play. Three different players scored during the run with Upchurch and Kane each connecting form the field, while Bailey picked up his third three pointer which was the final points in the rally.

·         Bailey closed out the first half leading all players in the game with 11 points while he and Upchurch each finished in double figures as the senior point guard added 10.

·         Also providing an impressive opening half was Kane who pulled down 11 rebounds as the Chargers took a 22-15 rebounding lead into the break.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         New Haven would again open up the scoring in the second half and again do so from beyond the three point arc this time with Bailey draining his fourth of the night just nine second into the action. The cross-court pass that set up Bailey came from Felizor.

·         Following that opening thee pointer, the Setters look to make a run on New Haven scoring six of the next eight points which took their deficit down to single digits, however the Chargers responded by scoring the next seven points to regain a 15 points led, 47-32. That 7-0 run for New Haven was capped off with another three-point bucket with Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) providing the shot and Upchurch the helper.

·         New Haven's largest lead of the game of 19 came on a pair of occasions in the second half, the first of which was courtesy of another 7-0 run. This time around the first three points in the rally came from long range with Upchurch getting the credit, while the remaining four points all came at the free throw line as Bailey and Mihailo Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) each went a perfect 2-of-2 form the stripe.

·         Back-to-back layups from Upchurch and Kane with under five minutes to go would again push New Haven ahead by 19 with 4:11 remaining. Pace would outscore the Chargers 13-7 over the final four minutes but the lead was too much for the visiting team to overcome.

·         Upchurch came close to scoring 20 points alone in the second half, finishing out with a team-high 16 points which came on 6-of-9 shooting (67 percent), including a trio of three pointers. He also dished out three assists.

·         Bailey would again finish in double figures for the Chargers as he put up 11 points, while Felizor recorded all four of his assists in the game in the second half while he added three points and pulled down five rebounds.

·         As a team, New Haven saw its best shooting come in the second half where they finished 15-of-28 (53.6 percent), with seven of those 15 buckets from long range.

UP NEXT
New Haven will have the benefit of three days off before returning to the hardwood when they face the Saint Rose Golden Knights on Saturday in Albany. The Golden Knights will not have the benefit of rest as they will play a Thursday night game (vs AIC) as well between tonight and Saturday. Tip-off at Nolan Gymnasium on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. following the women's game.