GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: January 5, 2021
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LOCATION: Butova Gymnasium | Springfield, Mass.
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GAME DAY LINKS
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LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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Since the holiday break, the Chargers have experienced many changes to their original schedule. To finish off 2021, New Haven was slated to travel down I-95 to meet the University of Bridgeport followed by a visit from Adelphi in Charger Gym on New Year's Day - both of which have been postponed.
Originally, Franklin Pierce was to travel to New Haven but instead the Chargers will embark to their neighbor of the north, American International College, for a familiar matchup. Just shy of a month ago, the Yellow Jackets came to New Haven with the outcome resulting in the third straight conference win for the Blue and Gold.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets (5-7, 2-3 NE10)
Like many other programs during this time, the Yellow Jackets are having scheduling problems of their own as well. On the contrary to New Haven, they were able to participate in their final game of the 2021 calendar year. New Year's day Le Moyne was supposed to travel to Springfield however that matchup was postponed. In order to add another contest to their schedule the Yellow Jackets took a trip to the town of Kingston with afternoon reservations with the Rhode Island Rams, a Division I program.
Despite the 15-point downfall, AIC was able to restrict Rhody to 58 shots from the field with only 43.1 percent finding their way through the net. Contributing both on the defensive and offensive end was Franklyn Batista. The junior forward put up 14 points of his own while grabbing 14 boards and dishing out two assists. Sunday's meetup resulted in Batista's fifth double-double of the season, and his second consecutive.
Scouting the Chargers (7-3, 3-2 NE10)
Wednesday will mark 17 days since the Chargers last stepped onto the court dressed in uniform. Their most recent matchup was their 88-69 victory over the Chestnut Hill Griffins prior to the holiday break. Hotaling and the men are on a four-game hot streak as of right now which kicked off the first of December when New Haven traveled to their crosstown rival, Southern Connecticut.
Tavin Pierre Philippe (Brooklyn, N.Y./Baldwin High School), a sophomore guard from Stony Brook, became an active player in the Chestnut Hill meetup. Prior to Dec. 19, the last time Philippe was dressed for a game was the his freshmen season (2019-20) prior to the pandemic. As a freshmen he appeared in 30 contests and made the starting five in the final two of the regular season. In his performance against Chestnut Hill, Philippe set the bar high scoring 12 points in 20 minutes on the floor. Featured in the double-digit performance were two three-point shots, a perfect trip to the stripe, and four rebounds.
Graduate star Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) did not disappoint either, with his stellar 26-point performance, 21 of which were from beyond the arc. This was Rowland's best performance thus far in the season, however he was six shy of tying his career-best 32 points set back in Jan. 2020 at Adelphi. After Chestnut Hill, Rowland has now surpassed former teammate Kessly Felizor in career-points and now sits 26th in program history for all-time scoring. Rowland has 1,145 points to his name and is 59 away from meeting Keith Wright (2000-04) at the 25 slot.
Turnovers have been a consistent enemy for New Haven, but they were able to prevent that number from hitting double-digits in their previous matchup and only achieving eight - their lowest amount of the season. Limiting turnovers will be the key to success come Wednesday, mixed with Rowland's productivity on the floor and the addition of Philippe to the rotation.
When and Where
This conference matchup will tip off Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Henry A. Butova Gym in Springfield, Mass. Streaming capabilities will be available on the NE10 Network as well as live ply-by-play stats.
