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WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The days without the game night experience inside Charger Gymnasium turned into weeks and finally into months.

With the home crowd back to cheer on the University of New Haven men's basketball program for the first time in 21 months, the returning players ran multiple scenarios through their minds of how that long-awaiting return to their beloved home court would go.

It is safe to say that watching visiting Pace dominate inside en route to a 69-45 victory was never part of how the players and coaches envisioned the 2021-22 home opener playing out.

"They were much more physical than we were," New Haven coach Ted Hotaling said. "I don't know if it as much offensively but physically their defense impacted us quite a bit."

After getting off to a slow start, New Haven was able to get back within three points early in the second half. Any chance of the Chargers coming all the way back ended thanks to the Setters' 18-3 run.

"We weren't all on the same page," said guard Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) who led the Chargers with 11 points. "We have to stay together, stay as young. We didn't have a toughness about us that we usually have so that had a lot to do with it.

"We lost some inside battles, some rebound battles and they just pulled away. They were getting scores and stops. We just couldn't stop them."

Pace dominated in pretty much every area but the points in the paint were 48-16 in their favor, bench points were 35-12 and New Haven was outrebounded 43-29 including 11-4 on the offensive end.

"All the things good teams do, we didn't do any of it tonight and they did, credit to them," Hotaling said.

After a 3-0 start, it was the second straight loss for the Chargers. While a 79-75 Le Moyne stung, there is a chance that what happened against Pace will stay with the New Haven players a little bit longer.

"I think everybody knows how embarrassing that loss was and it should light a fire under everybody on our team," Rowland said.

In addition to Pace being the more physical team, fixing breakdowns in transition defense will certainly be a part of the next New Haven practice.  

"I thought we had gotten rid of a little bit of the transition defensive flaws after our first scrimmage against Bentley," Hotaling said. "We have been pretty good defensively but tonight, just a very poor job. Now it is coaching, we have to watch film, correct what is wrong. Fortunately, we have good players so we have to plug some holes, fix some leaks but that is the job of the coach and the job of a good team is to respond and fix those things."

Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) added 10 points and six rebounds for New Haven (3-2, 0-2 in the Northeast-10) while Nick Crocker (East Falmouth, M.A./Falmouth High School) had eight points.

Bryan Powell had 22 points, Marc Dadika had six of his 13 points during that decisive run in the second half. Brandon Powell had 12 points while Brandon Jacobs finished with 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals.