SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – All five starters registered double figures as the University of New Haven men's basketball team (18-7, 12-7 NE10) capped off its regular season road schedule with a 79-65 win over American International. Leading all scorers in the game was junior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who finished with 23 points.

Bailey's 23 points came on 10-of-21 from the field, including a pair of three pointers. Joining him in leading the way was junior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who finished with 18 points on a hot shooting night as he connected on all but one of his seven field goal attempts. He was also a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, while as a team the Chargers made all 17 of their free throw attempts on the afternoon.

Rounding out the leading scorers was junior Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) with 13 points, redshirt sophomore Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who chipped in a dozen and freshman point guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J. /Trenton Catholic Academy) who finished a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free throw line for 11 points. Lane and Rowland also led the Chargers with four assists a piece.

As a team, New Haven shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field, with their best shooting coming in the second half when they made 14-of-22 field goal attempts for a 63.6 percent effort. Among the 28 field goals on the afternoon were six from beyond the three point arc.

The Blue and Gold also won the battle of the boards with a 33-25 advantage, led by Felizor who pulled down eight boards. Kane followed right behind him with seven boards. Defensively, New Haven forced the Yellow Jackets into nine turnovers and turned those miscues into 11 points, leading in that category 11-4.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·         New Haven opened up the game scoring the first four points of the contest, including a jump shot from Kane which came on the first possession of the afternoon.

·         The Chargers would hold that early lead through the first five minutes of the game before the Yellow Jackets took their first and only lead of the game after scoring back-to-back baskets for a 7-6 lead.

·         Answering that single point deficit came in the fashion of a 7-0 run that resulted in a six point, 13-7, lead. Bailey would provide the second lead change on a jump shot before connecting on the Chargers first three point field goal of the afternoon courtesy of a pass from Lane.

·         That six point lead would be the largest of the half for New Haven, hitting that mark a number of times in the first period.

·         The Yellow Jackets kept matching New Haven's baskets until just inside the halfway point of the period when they began a 5-0 rally that resulted in a 20-20 tie, the first of the contest.

·         New Haven responded to that deadlock with back-to-back buckets from Felizor to regain the advantage.

·         AIC would manage to tie the game once more in the first half, that coming at 31-31 thanks to a three pointer from Isaiah Salter.

·         New Haven answered that stalemate with five-straight points on a layup from Bailey and a three pointer from Rowland before AIC closed out the half with a layup as time expired.

·         Bailey was one of two players to finish in double figures after the first 20 minutes as he finished with 12 points, while Rowland added 10 to lead the Chargers scoring.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·         New Haven's defense stepped up early in the second half, holding the Yellow Jackets without a field goal for nearly four minutes, during which time the Chargers built up their first double digit lead at 11, 44-33.

·         Following that first field goal for the Yellow Jackets, the teams would go through a four minute period where they traded baskets before the Chargers used a 9-1 run to open up their largest lead of 16, 65-49, with just shy of eight minutes remaining.

·         That run began with a long range bucket from Kane while Felizor capped it off with the final four points, including a layup that provided that 16 point lead.

·         AIC wasn't going to go down without a fight and managed to cut the lead down to six using a 16-6 run over the next 3:30.

·         New Haven answered by holding the Yellow Jackets without a field goal over the final 4:23 of the game, closing out the contest scoring the final eight points for the 14 point victory. During that stretch, AIC was unsuccessful on its final seven field goal attempts, five of which came from beyond the three point arc.

UP NEXT
The Chargers will close out the regular season on Tuesday night when they host the Le Moyne Dolphins who along with New Haven and Adelphi enter the final game of the regular season with identical 13-6 records in NE10 play. Tip-off in the season finale is set for 7:30 p.m. following the women's game.