WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The 2019 Northeast-10 Conference Championship will go through West Haven, Conn. as the SW No. 2 University of New Haven men's basketball team scored an 87-66 victory over the visiting SW No. 4 Southern Connecticut State University Owls in front of a sold out Charger Gymnasium in the semifinal round of the NE10 Championship. Leading the Blue and Gold was junior Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who led five players in double figures with 21 points.

New Haven advances to the NE10 Championship game for the second time in program history and will host the NE No. 2 Merrimack Warriors to decide the title on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Merrimack upset SW No.1 Le Moyne 84-77 in overtime to advance to its first NE10 Championship game.

Kane's 21 points was the third time this season he has finished with 20+ in the scoring column and one point shy of his career high. Overall, all five of the Chargers starters finished in double figures with junior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) and freshman Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J. /Trenton Catholic Academy) following him with 18 points. Redshirt sophomore Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) closed out the night with 13 points and junior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) continued his streak of double figures games, now at 20-straight, with 11 points.

As a team, New Haven's shooting was on par the entire night, closing out the evening with a 51.9 percent average on 27-of-52 overall including nine from beyond the three point arc. The Chargers best shooting came in the opening period when she shot 57.7 percent (15-of-26). Additionally, New Haven took advantage when it was sent to the line, connecting on 24-of-26 free throw attempts for a 92.3 percent average.

Individually, New Haven was led by Kane who connecting on 7-of-11 from the field with three of those field goals from outside the arc. Lane finished just behind him making 6-of-10 from the field, while Felizor capitalized at the free throw line where he connected on all but one of his 15 attempts. New Haven also held a commanding 36-26 lead in the rebounding battle with the rookie point guard Lane leading the efforts with eight boards.

Southern Connecticut came out of the gates to score the opening points of the night on a fast break jump shot 47 seconds into the action. They would maintain that lead through the first 180 seconds before a three pointer from Bailey provided the first and only lead change of the night at 7-6. That began what amounted to an 8-0 lead as the Blue and Gold built up a six point lead at 12-6.

The Owls managed to cut the deficit down to a single possession before a stretch of seven of the next nine points gave New Haven a 20-12 lead, their largest to that point. That lead came courtesy a three pointer from Kane off a feed from Rowland, one of his seven assists in the game, tying his career-high.

New Haven would muster its first double digit lead and its largest of the half at the buzzer after scoring the final four points of the half to take a 41-30 advantage into the break. After a layup from Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) with just over a minute remaining, the Owls would go on to miss a pair of attempts in the final 60 seconds before Darius Roundtree (Plainfield, N.J./The Patrick School) converted a bucket in the paint with three seconds remaining.

Southern again struck first coming out of the intermission, but New Haven responded quickly rattling off five unanswered to take a 13 point lead, 46-33, thanks to a three pointer from Bailey. The Owls would cut the lead into single digits twice more over the first 10 minutes of the period but could get no closer until starting an 8-0 run at the midway point that cut the deficit down to four, 58-54 with 8:20 to play.

After trading the next few baskets, New Haven again opened up a double digit lead with another 5-0 run that included a three pointer from Kane and a field goal from Rowland. SCSU was only able to cut the deficit into single digits one more time before the Chargers closed out the game on a 16-5 run. Eleven of those 16 points came at the free throw line helping extend the Chargers lead to its largest of the night which came at the buzzer.