GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: December 19, 2021
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LOCATION: Charger Gymnasium | West Haven, Conn.
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GAME DAY LINKS
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LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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Looking Back
Between finals and the fall 2021 commencement ceremony occurring in the past week, it has been a while since the Chargers have taken the court. Coming into Sunday, it will have been 12 days since New Haven picked up their third consecutive win over NE10 rival, American International College.
Flashback to their most recent game in early December, many roster members performed the best they have all season. Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) added 22 points under New Haven, nearly doubling his season-high of 13, which is now set at 22. Not to mention three of the men in blue and gold tallied double digits in their points column: Rowland (22), Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) (18) and Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) (14).
Aside from scoring, Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and Lane helped on the defensive end combining for 19 boards. Lane's ten defensive rebounds was a new career-high, in his prior two season's he set a high of eight each year. Majak also shut down a handful of the Yellow Jackets attempts, adding five blocks to his now 35 of the season. Majak ranks first in the conference in terms of blocks, on average and total. The second-place holder comes from Saint Michael's and is 15 swats behind Majak.
Climbing the Charts
Mentioned before, Rowland set a new season-high last game, but that is not his only accomplishment so far this season. The graduate guard out of Cohoes, N.Y. started the 2021-22 season sitting 35th in all-time scoring in the history of the men's basketball program at New Haven. Earlier in the season he inched his way up to 33rd. With last game's 22-point performance Rowland surpassed four individuals in just a one-game appearance to move up to 29th in all-time scoring with 1,119 career-points. Hypothetically, if Rowland were to have the same point-performance on Sunday, he would climb up three more spots up to 26th place topping the record of his former teammate, Kessly Felizor (2016-20) who has 1,135 career-points.
With four made three-point field goals in the last event, Rowland also moves up to fourth place in total baskets outside the arc sitting with Alberto Alberdi (1998-2003) and Gary Battle (1987-91) with 190 throughout his career.
Inside the Series
Sunday marks the first time these two teams have met on the same court. The Griffins are led by J.J. Butler who took over the program for the 2020-21 season, however no games were played that year. This is the first season in which Butler was able to lead his team in games. Prior to coaching, Butler was a member of the Griffin's roster for the 2016-17 season when he was a graduate student. Before that he attended a Division I school, Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee where he totaled 128 points, 70 boards, 109 assists, and 38 steals in 85 games.
Scouting the Griffins (5-4, 2-0 CACC)
Much like the Blue and Gold, the Griffins will step onto the court of Charger Gym on a four-game winning streak. After losing four of their first five, the Griffins made a turnaround with consecutive wins split between conference and non-conference opponents.
In the South Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, Chestnut Hill sits in second place behind Jefferson. They are 2-0 in terms of conference play however they have dropped three games on the road. When it comes to their victories, the point differential has a range of 18 with the biggest win being by 23 points, and the smallest as little as five.
The Griffins shot .500 from the field making 31-of-62 attempts in their last game. Six members of their roster hit double digit scoring, four of these players were a part of the starting five. Leading Chestnut Hill in scoring was Nigel Haughton who added 16 to the final score of 82. He shot 55 percent from the field, connected on 2-of-5 attempts from three-point range and executed perfectly in his four times at the stripe. Haughton also assisted five baskets.
David Erebor was just one board shy of a double-double against Mercy. He added 13 points from the bench while also grabbing nine rebounds throughout his 20 minutes on the hardwood.
Scouting the Chargers (6-3, 3-2 NE10)
After suffering a three-game losing streak that finished the month of November, New Haven flipped a switch and are 3-0 for the month of December. Prior to the first of three wins, the Chargers sat last in the NE10, but after three straight conference victories they place fifth before hosting Chestnut Hill.
When looking at non-conference matchups, the Blue and Gold are 3-1 and average 15 more points per game (80.5) than compared to their conference average (65.8). They have also committed significantly less turnovers when facing non-NE10 teams: 47 total for an average of 11.8 per game.
For the past two games, head coach ted Hotaling has opted for Lane, Rowland, Majak, Thomas and Sean Braithwaite (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches) as his starting five, which is a different lineup than what he had started his season with. Through trial and error and a mix of talent it seems Hotaling, and the rest of the roster, is getting familiar with each other and what their roles are on the floor. Following Chestnut Hill, New Haven is only two games away from the midpoint of their season.
When and Where
After being away from Charger Gym for 12 days, Ted Hotaling and his men take the court for the final time before the holiday break. Coming in after three consecutive conference wins, New Haven hopes to extend this hot streak taking on the Chestnut Hill Griffins of the CACC.
This matchup is set for Sunday, Dec. 19 at 3:30 p.m. in the stable. Live coverage of the game will be available for stream on Charger Sports Network on the NE10 Now, as well as live play-by-play coverage on our live stats, on NewHavenChargers.com.
