New Haven Starters: Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy), Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech), Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Sean Braithwaite (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches), Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) 

American International Starters: Donovan Miller, Walter Covington, Franklyn Batista, Xiong Golding, Tyrae Washington

The crowd in Charger Gym Tuesday evening experienced a thrilling victory for the first time in 651 days. The last time New Haven added a win at home came in the 2019-20 season against Molloy on Feb. 25, 74-67. This time around, it was a double-digit victory at home over NE10 rival, American International. 

How it Happened 
New Haven started Tuesday nights game scoreless for the first three minutes. Six minutes later, with 13:09 to go the score was locked at 10 after Lane hit a jumper. The 10-10 tie in the first half was one of two ties of the game, which also featured five changes in leads. The Blue and Gold rallied to earn their first win on their home court, 69-52. 

Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie), who totaled four three-pointers, hit his first of the night to help push New Haven past AIC after the 10-10 deadlock. 

Down by four, an offensive spark hit the floor. New Haven kicked off a 7-0 run that would push the lead back in their favor. Finishing this run was a second chance dunk by Majak-  this is when the crowd went wild. 

Majak also blocked five shots in total, with each one the volume in the stands grew louder. Charger nation has been without basketball for a while since last season was cancelled due to the pandemic. The masks in the crowd did not prevent the cheering and yelling, and energy in the room helped flood the New Haven bench with confidence and intensity.

New Haven headed into the locker room up two, 31-29. Off the rip in the second half, they started a 13-1 run featuring back-to-back outside the arc baskets from Rowland, and another from Thomas on the fastbreak. 

In total, 18 of the Chargers points were off fastbreaks. The defensive efforts from New Haven, mostly blocked shots from Majak, restricted AIC to only four. 

New Haven's largest lead of 17 occurred on three occasions, with one being the final result. A pair of free throws made by Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y. /Elmont Memorial High School ) put the score at 65-48 with less than four minutes of action to remain. From then on the Yellow Jackets never got closer than 15 points from New Haven. 

Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./Sacred Heart High School) finalized the 69-52 victory sprinting down the court and in the paint with a layup. Twenty eight of their 69 points took place in the paint. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) hit his first career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) after being a part of the program since his freshman year. He also had five assists. 
• Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) had a season high of 22 points. His career high remains 32 points at Adelphi in the 2019-20 season. 
• For the third consecutive game, New Haven has shot over 50 percent from the field. Today the team shot 51 percent making 26 of 51 total attempts. 
• The Chargers had three players in double-digits: Rowland (22), Lane (18), and Thomas (14). 
• On the defensive end, Majak blocked five shots and grabbed nine boards. 

What's Next
In part two of the back-to-back home series, Charger Gym will welcome Chestnut Hill on Dec. 19 with an afternoon tip slated for 3:30 p.m. This game takes place during the school's winter break, however you can still catch the action on Charger Sports Network or play-by-play at NewHavenChargers.com.