WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's basketball team's quest for a Northeast-10 Conference Championship came up just short dropping a 51-46 decision to the Merrimack Warriors in the Championship game. Leading New Haven was redshirt sophomore Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who finished with 12 points, all of which came in the first half.
As a team, New Haven shot 34.6 percent, connecting on 18-of-52 with six of those field goals from outside the three point arc. Individually, the Chargers were led by Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who finished with eight points, connecting on 4-of-8 from the field with all four of his field goals coming in the second half.
Joining Rowland in leading the Chargers was junior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who finished with 11 points, while Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) finished just shy of a double double with nine points while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. Overall, New Haven did win the battle of the boards with Felizor (8), Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J. /Trenton Catholic Academy) (6) and Najee Larcher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) (6) following Kane in leading the team.
In a first half where neither team led by more than five, New Haven was led by Rowland who closed out the period 4-of-5 from the field, all from beyond the arc, for 12 points. Merrimack scored the opening bucket of the half before New Haven put its first points on the boards thanks a three from Rowland. The Warriors answered right back with a three pointer of their own before the Chargers mustered back-to-back buckets for a three-point lead four minutes into the action.
Merrimack responded by scoring the next seven points and 10-of-12 to open up their largest lead of the period at 15-10. Rowland would provide the answer once again, hitting back-to-back three pointers to put New Haven back ahead 16-15.
Over the final eight minutes, the score would change hands three more times before settling in favor of the Warriors at the break. Merrimack's defense was able to hold New Haven without a bucket over the final five minutes following a fast break bucket from Bailey at 5:19 that proved to be the final field goal of the half for the Chargers.
Following a pair of lead changes over the first six minutes of the second half, New Haven began its largest rally of the afternoon. Facing a 28-26 deficit, the Chargers rattled off nine unanswered to open up a seven point lead at 35-28. The nine points came from three different players with the biggest in the stretch a three pointer from Kane that broke a 28-28 stalemate.
Merrimack responded to New Haven seven point lead by scoring 15 of the nest 17 points to turn the tables in their favor, ending with a six point, 43-37 lead. Once erasing that lead on a three pointer from Tournament MVP Ryan Boulter Merrimack never looked back, holding the lead through the final 5:21 of the game.
The Chargers would have a pair of opportunities in the final minute to take the lead or tie the game, however in both cases the Merrimack defense was successful in not allowing New Haven to get a shot off.
New Haven will await word of a potential bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship with the national selection show slated for 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 10 on NCAA.com.
