GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: March 7, 2020
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LOCATION: Stoutenburgh Gymnasium | Manchester, N.H.
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GAME DAY LINKS
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LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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THE FIRST LOOK
For the second straight season, and the third time ever, the Chargers will play for an NE10 Championship on Saturday when they travel to Saint Anselm for a date with the Hawks. New Haven is in search of its first conference title while the Hawks are looking to secure the ninth title in program history.
INSIDE THE SERIES
· New Haven and Saint Anselm meet for the 27th time in the history of the two programs.
· Overall, the Hawks hold a 17-9 advantage in the first 26 meetings, with the series dating back to the season opener in 1984-85 season.
· Under 10th-year head coach Ted Hotaling, the Chargers trail the Hawks 8-5.
· Earlier this season, the Chargers snapped a series of five straight losses to Saint Anselm with a home win over the Hawks.
· Prior to the win earlier this year, the Chargers had not won since the 2014-15 season.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
All season long, 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 65.1% of the overall scoring for the season. Leading the way is Bailey who is averaging 20.2 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 13.9 ppg while leading the team with an average of 9.1 rebounds per contest. He also leads the way with 23 blocks and is second with 28 steals, while setting a career-high with 33 points earlier this season against STAC. Rounding out the three leaders is Rowland who is averaging 13.1 ppg while leading the team with 117 assists and 33 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 HAWKS
The No. 1 seed from the Northeast division, Saint Anselm continues a late season rally that stands at 10 straight wins heading into Saturday Championship game. Overall for the year, the Hawks sport a 20-8 record, one season after winning the NCAA Division II East Region Championship and advancing to the Elite 8. As a team, the Hawks are averaging 83.0 points per game, tied for the most in the Northeast-10 Conference. On the flip side, they are surrendering 75.5 points per game, outscoring their opposition by 7.5 points. Individually, the Hawks are led by junior forward Chris Paul who is averaging 19.1 points per game, fifth most in the NE10. Overall, he is one of five players to average double figures with each member of the starting five among that group.
UP NEXT
New Haven has a lot riding on today's game, not only a conference championship, but the chance to earn the NE10's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship is on the line. Saint Anselm, who this week was fourth in the East Region rankings would likely maintain one of the eight spots in the regional championship, while New Haven would need to earn the league's automatic bid to make another postseason appearance.
NE10 TOURNAMENT HISTORY
New Haven makes its eighth appearance in the NE10 Championship since joining the league for the 2008-09 season. This season also represents the fourth straight appearance for the Blue and Gold. Overall, the Chargers hold a 2-1 record in the first round of the Championship and have advanced to the quarterfinals seven times, making semifinal and championship game appearances in 2014, 2019 and now 2020. New Haven has now advanced to the title game in each of its last two appearances, last season defeating cross-town rival Southern Connecticut 87-66 in front of a home crowd to advance to the title game. Overall, the Chargers are 9-7 in NE10 Championship play.
VS SAINT ANSELM IN THE POSTSEASON
In the Chargers eight NE10 Championship appearances, New Haven and Saint Anselm have met just once in postseason play, that coming in the semifinal round in 2014. The Chargers earned an 85-58 win over the Hawks, advancing to the first NE10 title game in program history. In recent member, the Chargers and Hawks are very familiar postseason opponents as they met in the semifinal round of last year's East Region Championship with the Hawks narrowly squeezing out a 70-69 victory, eventually advancing to the Elite 8.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Behind a career-high 33 points from Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School), the men's basketball team continued its dominance of the NE10 Northeast Division with an 80-73 victory over visiting Saint Anselm. Bailey's second game of the season with 30+ points came on 12-of-22 shooting, which included a team-high four three pointers. He was also a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Overall, Bailey was one of four players in double figures, followed by Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who put up 15 points which came on 5-of-11 shooting while he also matched the team-high with four three pointers. Rowland also led New Haven with six assists as he extended his team lead to 84 for the season. Also among the leading scorers was Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) who chipped in 14 points while Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) closed out the pack with 12 points. As a team, New Haven finished the night shooting 44.6 percent from the field, converting 25-of-56 field goal attempts. Among the 25 buckets were 10 from long range. The Blue and Gold also capitalized on their 22 attempts from the free throw line, converting 20 of those for a 90.9 percent performance. The Chargers did surrender the battle of the boards by a 37-28 margin with Felizor and Thomas combining to lead the team. The senior post player pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Thomas followed just behind him with seven.
LAST TIME OUT
In what became an instant classic, New Haven secured a 101-100 triple overtime victory over Stonehill to advance to its second straight NE10 Championship game. Leading the Chargers in the semifinal win was Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who matched his career-high with 33 points. Bailey closed out the night shooting 12-of-25 from the field including a pair of three pointers while he also finished 7-of-9 at the free throw line. Overall, Bailey was one of five players in double figures for the Chargers, as the entire starting five who closed out the night with double digits. Following Bailey was Lane who dropped in a career-high 23 points, none bigger than his off balance three pointer in the final seconds of the second OT. Lane closed out his night shooting 10-of-14 form the field. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Felizor completed his ninth double double of the year, and second straight, with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) and Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) capped off the starting five in double digits with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Felizor's team-high 14 rebounds were part of 38 total for the Blue and Gold as they secured another victory on the night in the rebounding battle, holding the Skyhawks to 33.
HARDWARE CITY
For the second straight season Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) has secured hardware from the Northeast-10 Conference, earning All-Conference Second Team accolades as announced by the league on March 3. Bailey adds this honor to First Team accolades a year ago. This season, the senior guard leads the Chargers with an average of 19.7 points per game which registers as fourth highest in the NE10. Overall, Bailey is converting 44.2 percent of his shot attempts (200-of-453) which includes a team-high 68 three pointers, tied for the ninth most in a single season in school history. A six-time NE10 weekly honor roll recipient, Bailey has scored in double figures in 25 of 28 games, including 18 games in Northeast-10 play. Among those 25 games were 15 where he scored 20+ and 17 where he led the team in scoring. He also secured his first collegiate double double during the regular season when he scored24 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds in a non-conference game against Holy Family.
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 256 three pointers, led by senior Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who has drained 70 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 24 points in the regular season finale against Molloy he took over the No. 8 spot all-time and now needs 17 points to pass Jim Allen (1975-79) for seventh 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 27th all-time with 1,130 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 second player this season to reach the 1,000 point plateau joining teammates Kessly Felizor (Hightstown, N.J./Hightstown) and Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) who are active players on the list. Rowland is also the second among that group to join the club during their third year of eligibility as Elijah Bailey (Freeport, N.Y./The Hotchkiss School) originally hit the milestone last season as a junior. Overall, Rowland is the 37th player all-time to reach the 1,000 point level and he hit that mark in the NE10 quarterfinal at Le Moyne as his sister sat across the court in the stands, a court she is very familiar with, playing for the Dolphins from 2009-12. Rowland is also the second player this season to set that mark at Le Moyne as Felizor did so back on February 8 in Syracuse.
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 212. Bailey will likely settle into the number two spot all-time as he would need to convert 39 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 19 games since the New Year, Rowland is averaging 14.5 points, shooting 100-of-227 (44%) overall and 48-of-117 (41%) from long range and has dished out 69 assists, grabbed 49 boards, picked off 23 steals and blocked five 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.
