MANCHESTER, N.H. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team fell short on the road on Wednesday night as the No. 9/15 ranked Saint Anselm Hawks powered past the Chargers 73-52. Junior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) led the Chargers with 16 points, and Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk)  also reached double figures with 13 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting to go with two blocks. Junior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) notched eight points and eight rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting.

New Haven held a 21-16 lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half, but the Hawks used a big run to finish the half, followed by another extend surge early in the second half to take control. After a sluggish start to the second half, New Haven finished the period at 42.9 percent from the floor, and finished the game shooting 35.1 percent overall.

Saint Anselm shot 46.7 percent for the game, including 37.5 percent from downtown, and outscored New Haven 20-9 in points off turnovers. The Hawks move to 12-1 (8-0 NE10) on the season as New Haven slips to 8-5 (3-4 NE10).

FIRST HALF

·         Kane knotted the score 7-7 with a three-pointer just over five minutes in, and Bailey gave New Haven its first lead with a layup on the next possession.

·         The teams alternated baskets, with New Haven taking an 11-9 lead, then tying it up at 13-13 on a Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) lay in at 9:42.

·         Bailey scored five straight points, including a pull-up three pointer in transition to make it 18-16 New Haven at the 8:04 mark.

·         Kane, Jr. followed with another three-pointer at the 7:14 mark to make it 21-16, but Saint Anselm turned up the pressure after that and rattled off 14-straight to take a 30-21 lead over the next 4:26.

·         Bailey broke the run with a lay in underneath at 2:31, but the Hawks added six more unanswered to make it 36-23 with just over one-minute remaining in the half.

·         Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) put in two free throws with 23 seconds left to get it within 11. Saint Anselm's Gustav Suhr-Jessen then tipped one in off the miss just ahead of the halftime buzzer, giving Saint A's the 38-25 lead going into the locker room.

·         The Chargers finished the first half just 8-of-29 from the field while the Hawks connected on 15 of their 31 shots (48.4 percent).

·         Bailey scored 11 points on 4-of-9 from the field in the opening half.

SECOND HALF

·         A 9-3 run sparked the Chargers coming out of the locker room to get within 41-34 thanks to baskets by Quashawn, Felizor and Bailey.

·         The Hawks quieted the New Haven run with seven straight points to build a 48-34 advantage by the 14:06 mark.

·         Saint A's extended the run to 12-0 before Lane connected on a three from the corner off the assist from Bailey to make it 53-37.

·         The run extended to 20-3 until Kane Jr. drained one from long range from the right wing to bring the score to 61-40 at 10:22.

·         Felizor brought it to 63-42 after tacking on a putback layup at 9:06 as New Haven called timeout.

·         Kane, Jr. hit consecutive jumpers before New Haven called for timeout with 4:04 to play, trailing 69-50.

·         A Felizor layup with 1:31 remaining capped the New Haven scoring as New Haven hit one of its remaining six shots over the final four minutes.

The Chargers will return home this Saturday as part of an afternoon doubleheader against Assumption at Charger Gymnasium. Tipoff for the men's game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on NE10 NOW.