GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: February 25, 2020
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LOCATION: Charger Gym | West Haven, Conn.
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GAME DAY LINKS
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LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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THE FIRST LOOK
As teams jockey for final positioning in the upcoming NE10 Championship, New Haven steps away from conference action to close out the regular season with a regional match-up against the ECC's Molloy Lions.
INSIDE THE SERIES
· Former conference partners in the NYCAC, New Haven and Molloy meet for the 17th time in the history of the two programs.
· Overall, the Chargers hold a 10-6 advantage in the first 16 meetings, dating back to January 11, 2003.
· Under 10th-year head coach Ted
Hotaling, the Chargers are 2-0 against Molloy.
· The Chargers have won the last two, and four of the last five, against Molloy.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
The Chargers have relied on the returning experience of seniors Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) and redshirt junior Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who combined have provided over 65.9% of the overall scoring for the season. Leading the way is Bailey who is averaging 19.5 points per game and scored 20+ in five straight that spanned the end of November up to the holiday break, increasing his average in that stretch alone to 27.0 ppg. In a recent cross-division outing against Saint Anselm, Bailey net 30+ for the second time this season, dropping in a career-high 33 points. Felizor follows Bailey adding 13.6 ppg while leading the team with an average of 8.8 rebounds per contest. He also leads the way with 20 blocks and is second with 26 steals, while setting a career-high with 33 points earlier this season against STAC. Rounding out the three leaders is Rowland who is averaging 13.5 ppg while leading the team with 109 assists and 28 steals. Rowland also notched a new career-high this season when he dropped in 32 points against Adelphi and when he dished out 10 assists against Holy Family.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Winners of their last two, Molloy is currently fourth in the ECC standings with a pair of league games remaining against Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan. Overall for the season, the Lions are averaging 77.9 points per game, however they surrender 80.3 to their opponents. Individually, senior guard Nick Corbett leads Molloy, scoring an average of 10 points more than any of his teammates with his average of 22.7 points per game. For the season, Corbett is shooting at a 43.7 percent clip, while leading the team from outside the three point arc with 76 buckets from deep and also getting to the line the most among his teammates with 118 attempts (converting 97).
UP NEXT
The Chargers have secured one of five spots from the Southwest Division for the upcoming NE10 Championship with their final seeding and opponent still to be determined. If the Chargers were to host a first round game on Friday, tip off would be scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Charger Gym.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) led all players with 22 points as the Chargers topped host Molloy, 62-47, to earn its fourth consecutive win. Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) posted nine points and 16 rebounds in the victory. Exum knocked down six three-pointers and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to account for his game-best 22 points. Anderson fell just shy of his sixth double-double of the year with nine points and a career-best 16 rebounds. His efforts led the Chargers to a 41-34 advantage on the glass, including 11 second-chance points for New Haven. As a unit, New Haven shot 20-for-53 (37.7 percent) from the floor, 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line against the ECC's stingiest defense.
LAST TIME OUT
The Chargers held Adelphi 20 points under their season average en route to a 67-61 victory on Saturday. Leading the Chargers on the afternoon was Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) who each finished with a team-best 19 points. Bailey's 19 points came on a 7-of-17 shooting performance with a trio of those buckets from beyond the three point arc. Lane finished the game shooting 6-of-11 from the field with one three pointer while adding six points, in eight attempts, at the free throw line. Rounding out the leading scorers for New Haven was Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who chipped in a baker's dozen 13 points and finished just shy of his eighth double double, hauling in nine rebounds. As a team, New Haven shot 43.6 percent overall, 24-of-55, which included eight three point field goals.
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
For the fifth time in the last six years, New Haven knocked off a ranked opponent when they defeated the No. 17/18 Bentley 72-42 in cross-divisional action. The win over Bentley also marks the second-straight year New Haven defeated a ranked Bentley team. Overall under Hotaling, the Chargers have defeated seven ranked opponents, including the highest ranked team in program history; No. 2 Southern Connecticut State University in 2015-16.
BRING OUT THE BROOMS
Senior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) and Freshman Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) capped off a 2-0 week sweeping the NE10 Weekly awards. Bailey earns the second NE10 Player of the Week accolade of his career, while Thomas is the first Charger to earn Rookie of the Week honors since Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) earned the distinction on February 19, 2018. That date also marks the last time the Chargers swept the weekly honors with Rowland joined by then senior Danny Upchurch who earned Player of the Week honors. Bailey closed out last week averaging 25 points on 18-of-24 field goal attempts with eight of those buckets from outside the three point arc. Bailey also hauled in 15 boards including his first career double double with a career-high 10 rebounds against Holy Family. Thomas capped off his weekly performance with a pair of career highs on Sunday afternoon against Holy Family when he scored 18 points and dished out six assists.
HONOR ROLL
In addition to its Player and Rookie of the Week awards, the Northeast-10 Conference also doles out Honor Roll accolades to some of the best performances from the week prior.
2019-20 NE10 Honor Roll Recipients
Nov. 25 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Dec. 09 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Dec. 09 :: Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown)
Dec. 16 :: Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown)
Jan. 6 :: Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech)
Jan. 13 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Jan. 20 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Jan. 20 :: Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech)
Feb. 3 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Feb. 3 :: Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown)
Feb. 10 :: Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown)
Feb. 17 :: Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown)
Feb. 24 :: Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School)
Feb. 24 :: Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy)
THREE POINT THREAT
With the return of the top two three point shooters from a season ago, New Haven is poised to build on the momentum of a school record 267 three point field goals last season. It was the second straight year the Chargers hit a school record from long range as they did so with 239 during the 2017-18 campaign. Leading New Haven into the new season will be Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) (68) and Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) (66) who combined for half of the total three pointers from last season. The biggest loss from outside the arc comes in the form of Roy Kane, Jr. (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) who finished with 46 three pointers. Heading into the regular season finale, the Chargers have converted 217 three pointers, led by senior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who has drained 61 buckets from long range.
TIGHTENING THE BELT
Since returning from the Sunshine State, head coach Ted Hotaling may have hit the point in the season where he has tightened the belt on his rotation, relying on just seven players total in a three-game stretch against SCSU, Saint Rose and AIC. Additionally, all 71 points against SCSU and all 65 points against American International came from the starting five.
MOVIN' ON UP
Senior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) became the 35th player in program history to hit the 1,000 career point plateau as part of a then-career-high 32-point night against crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University on February 6, 2019. After opening the season rounding out the top 25 on the career scoring list, Bailey will continue to quickly ascend the ranks. With his 19 points last time out against Adelphi he took over the No. 9 spot all-time and now needs 10 to pass Edgar Maull (1979-83) for eighth all-time.
MILESTONE MAN
Senior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) is the newest member of the 1,000 point club at New Haven and at the same time is the first player since Eric Anderson (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) (2011-15) to be a member of two prestigious lists at New Haven; the 500 Rebound and 1,000 Point clubs. Last season, Felizor broke into the 500 rebound club and has since moved up to ninth all-time. In the hunt for 1,000 points, Felizor broke the plateau with his team-high 18 points against Le Moyne and currently stands 33rd all-time with 1,069 points. Overall, Felizor is the 18th player all-time to join both the 500 rebound and 1,000 point club.
NO MOUNTAIN TO HIGH
Redshirt junior Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) is the newest Charger in the hunt for 1,000 as he stands 24 points shy of becoming the second player this season to join the prestigious list. In addition Felizor who broke the plateau against Le Moyne, Rowland would be the third active player on the roster to join the list during their career as a Charger with Bailey earning the distinction last season.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE
Senior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) entered another top-10 in program history in the early part of the season when he broke in among the top three point shooters at New Haven. With his two made three pointers against Franklin Pierce, Bailey moved into third all-time in program history, currently with 203. Bailey will likely settle into the number two spot all-time as he would need to convert 48 more three pointers to tie Mike Grove for second (251, 1989-93).
DOUBLE DIPPING
Senior Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) flew a bit under the radar in the month of December, but in doing so he has compiled a double double in four of the five games that month. In that same stretch, the senior post player averaged with 18.6 ppg and 10.6 rebounds per game, while shooting an impressive 65.5 percent in that same stretch (36-of-55). In addition to that, Felizor picked off 10 steals over the five game stretch.
NEW YEAR, NEW YOU
Since the calendar rolled over to a new decade, the Chargers redshirt junior guard Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) has been nothing but impressive, racking up a pair of 25+ performances, including a career-high 32 points against NE10 SW Division foe Adelphi. Over the 15 games since the New Year, Rowland is averaging 15.4 points, shooting 82-of-164 (50%) overall and 41-of-89 (46%) from long range and has dished out 61 assists, grabbed 36 boards, picked off 18 steals and blocked four shots.
LITERACY MATTERS
For the fourth straight season, the New Haven men's basketball team partnered with Coaching for Literacy to promote the #Fight4Literacy initiative with this year's game coming on February 1 when the Chargers hosted Franklin Pierce. New Haven remains the only Division II program to partner with Coaching for Literacy, a program whose goal is to promote childhood reading in local communities. In addition to raising awareness on February 1, the Chargers offered a special admission opportunity that afternoon - any fan who brought a new or gently used book to the game received complimentary admission. All books collected were then donated to the West Haven Read to Grow program.
FUTURE FOAL
Tenth year head coach Ted Hotaling announced the commitment of one player during the early signing period in November, a 6-2 forward out of Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, N.J., Jordan Price. As a junior last season, Price averaged 14.6 points per game, while pulling down 6.8 rebounds per game. Among his highlights last year was a 30-point outing versus Christian Brothers on February 9, while he also posted a 23 point, eight rebound and six block performance against Plainfield on January 15.
PRESEASON PROPS
After being picked second in the previous two seasons, New Haven was the unanimous pick to win the Southwest Division in the Northeast-10 as predicted by a tally of the league's head coaches. New Haven registered 91 points in the poll, the most among all 14 teams in the league. The reigning NCAA East Region Champion Saint Anselm was picked to finish first in the Northeast Division earning five of the 14 possible first place votes, while Stonehill matched the five first place votes but finished second in the overall vote tally.
2019-20 NE10 Men's Basketball Coaches Poll
Northeast Division:
1. Saint Anselm - 78 (5)
2. Stonehill - 72 (5)
3. Bentley - 62 (1)
t-4. Franklin Pierce - 60 (3)
t-4. Southern New Hampshire - 60
6. Assumption - 33
7. Saint Michael's - 20
Southwest Division:
1. New Haven - 91 (13)
2. Adelphi - 69 (1)
3. Southern Connecticut - 61
4. Pace – 53
5. Le Moyne – 51
6. Saint Rose – 36
7. American International - 24
THE SCHEDULE
"Our goal each year is to play a competitive non-league schedule to prepare us for the Northeast-10, one of the toughest leagues in the country," said head coach Ted Hotaling. "We have accomplished that again this season with games against teams both inside and outside of the East Region."
· The New Haven men's basketball schedule consists of 26 total dates.
· The Chargers open up the season with a big test, playing four of their first five games away from the friendly confines of Charger Gymnasium. Included is a trip to the Sunshine State to compete in the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic against perennial Sunshine State Conference power Florida Southern, and Saint Leo.
· Among the 13 Northeast-10 Conference opponents, the Chargers will play their six divisional opponents twice; Adelphi, Southern Connecticut State, Saint Rose, Pace, Le Moyne and American International.
· New Haven will play seven non-conference games including Concordia (N.Y.), Florida Southern, Saint Leo, Holy Family, Jefferson, Saint Thomas Aquinas and a season-ending match-up with Molloy.
