WEST HAVEN, Conn. – For the fifth time in the last six games, junior guard Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) surpassed 20 points to lead the University of New Haven men's basketball team in a victory over Assumption College on Saturday afternoon. Overall, Bailey was one of four players in double figures while he led all players in the game with 24 points, his seventh time this season reaching 20+ points.

Joining Bailey in leading the Chargers was redshirt sophomore Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who poured in 14 points while juniors Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) and Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) each net 11 points in the victory. Felizor picked up more than half of his points at the free throw line where he finished a perfect 6-of-6, while adding two field goals including a three pointer.

Both Kane and Bailey finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field with Kane going 5-of-10 and Bailey shooting 10-of-20, while Rowland led all of the Chargers double digit scorers going 5-of-8 from the field for a 62.5 percent average. Additionally, freshman point guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J. /Trenton Catholic Academy) closed out the game with seven points, going a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, while the only other bench points on the afternoon came from senior Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) who chipped in a pair of points.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting an even 50 percent, connecting on 26-of-52 attempts, including five from outside the three point arc. New Haven also led the battle of the boards with a 26-27 margin, led by Larcher who pulled down seven boards off the bench. Kane followed him with five points. The Blue and Gold also held a commanding 40-18 lead in points in the paint, while outscoring the Greyhounds 11-4 on the fast break.

The Greyhounds came out of the gates looking to score and opened up an early 8-4 lead just over two minutes into the game with six of those eight points coming on a pair of three pointers. New Haven took over the lead with 13:51 remaining in the opening half as it used a 7-0 run to turn an 11-8 deficit into a 15-11 lead and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the contest.

Capping of that rally for New Haven was a drive to the hoop from Bailey as he drew the foul and completed an old fashioned three point play. After a few back-and-forth possessions, the Chargers rallied again, this time rattling off eight unanswered points to push their lead into double figures for the first time. The first two buckets in the rally came from beyond the three point arc with Bailey and Rowland each hitting from deep, while Larcher capped off the run with a layup for his only points of the game.

New Haven took its largest lead of the half right at the buzzer when Rowland scored on a fast break layup after picking off the Greyhounds turnover at midcourt. That bucket provided a 37-22 lead at the intermission and capped off what was a 5-0 run to close out the first period.

Coming out of the intermission, the Greyhounds would net the first two points on a pair of lay-ins, before a three pointer from Kane broke New Havens early second half drought. Just under four minutes into the second half action, Felizor sank a bucket from downtown, his seventh of the season that gave the Blue and Gold their largest lead to that point, 46-29.

The Chargers were never able to push their lead over the 20 point plateau, with the largest of the game coming with just under five minutes to play in the competition. Back-to-back unanswered buckets, one from Bailey and one from Kane gave New Haven a 61-45 advantage before the Greyhounds began chipping away at that deficit. Assumption would score 14 of the final 22 points of the game, but it wasn't enough to pull the deficit within single digits as New Haven nets its first cross-divisional NE10 victory.

New Haven will return to the court on Wednesday afternoon, closing out a two-game home stand with a visit from the Saint Michael's Purple Knights. An early tip is on tap in the NE10 game with a 3:00 p.m. start slated for after the women's annual Class at the Court game.