WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) racked up a double double and turned the momentum with a monster block in the second half to lead his New Haven men's basketball team to a 72-61 home win over American International College, breaking a three-game skid for the Blue and Gold. With the win, New Haven improves to 11-12 overall with a mark of 9-8 in the Northeast-10.
Felizor's game-high 22 points came on an impressive 8-of-9 shooting effort while he added six points, in eight attempts, at the free throw line. He completed the double double with 10 boards. He also closed out the contest with an assist and a blocked shot, which came with 9:20 remaining in the game as the Yellow Jackets were attempting a fast break attempt. On the layup try from Goree Venable, Felizor streaked in from well outside of the three point arc, bounding the full distance to the hoop and stopping the shot in its tracks. The block, which ignited the crowd was highlighted seconds later when Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) drilled a three pointer courtesy of a pass from Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) which also forced AIC to call for time trailing by 10.
Joining Felizor in leading the Chargers on the afternoon was Bailey with 14 points, while Lane and redshirt junior Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) each finished with 11points. The pair of Lane and Rowland also combined for seven assists, while Lane and Bailey each hauled in five boards to follow up Felizor's team-high 10. Nearly all of Bailey's 14 and Rowland's 11 points came from outside the arc as the pair combined to shooting 7-of-17 from downtown. Bailey finished with four three pointers while adding one additional bucket to close out the game shooting 5-of-12. Rowland finished 3-of-9 from long range and added one more field goal, shooting 4-of-11 overall for the afternoon.
As a team, New Haven shot 49.0 percent for the game (24-of-49) with the best shooting coming in the opening half where they finished 14-of-27 for 51.9 percent. The Chargers defense also came up big in the opening half as they held AIC without a bucket for the first five-plus minutes while opening up a 9-0 advantage.
Among the Chargers 24 total field goals were nine form long range as they finished 9-of-23 for 39.1 percent from three point distance. The Blue and Gold also combined for 15 points at the free throw line, with that coming in 21 attempts.
New Haven also held a 34-32 advantage on the boards led by Felizor's 10 rebounds. Overall eight different players all pulled down at least one rebound. The Chargers also led the way with 30 points in the paint, compared to 22 for the Yellow Jackets, and 14 second chance points which came on seven offensive rebounds.
The Chargers will take to the road one final time in the 2019-20 regular season when they take the court next at Moore Fieldhouse, home of crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University. Opening tip in the rivalry battle is slated for 7:30 p.m., following the women's game.
