GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: February 16, 2022
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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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Inside the Series
The Elm City rivalry is one that gets the people of New Haven all riled up. For 57 years, these two New Haven schools have fought for bragging rights, dating back to the first time they played in the 1965-66 season.
In the debut of this long-running feud, New Haven took the win by 46 points. The last time the Chargers and the Owls tipped off was earlier this season back in December; which kicked off New Haven's four-game winning streak. With the Owls coming to Charger Gymnasium on Wednesday, the Blue and Gold have the opportunity to surpass their longest winning-streak of the season as well as make it their longest winning run at home since the 2012-13 season.
Under head coach Ted Hotaling, the Chargers are 10-13 up against the Southern Connecticut Owls. In the 2018-19 season, Hotaling led the Chargers to three wins in a single season against the Owls; Twice in the regular season and once in the NE10 Championship Semifinals.
Scouting the Owls (7-14, 4-11)
Sixth in the Southwest division of the NE10 conference, the Owls come to West Haven coming off a 77-72 win to Saint Michael's - their first victory on the road. The past two games Southern Connecticut has been on the road. After their trip to Charger Gymnasium on Wednesday, they have one more away game before completing the last two of their regular season at the James Moore Field House.
Southern's leading scorer last game was junior guard, Ulyen Coleman. Coleman put up 23 points, a high for him this season. He is the second highest scorer on the team with 249 points on the season, and also the second best rebounder with 102 (averaging 5.1 per game). However, Southern is dead last in the conference in terms of field goal percentage, they average .409 from the field.
Scouting the Chargers (15-7, 11-6 NE10)
The Blue and Gold won their past four, and return home in hopes to extend their at-home winning streak to ten. If they take it all against Southern, this will be the Chargers longest win streak in Charger Gymnasium since the 2012-13 season. In that season Hotaling led the Chargers to a 20-9 record, berthing an appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./Sacred Heart High School) was on the court for only 11 minutes at Franklin Pierce, and in that time he went 4-for-5 from three-point territory. He tied his season-high of 12 points with his only points coming from those four three-pointers. Smith was one of five scorers in double-digits last game.
The leading scorer for the Chargers in New Hampshire was Tavin Pierre-Philippe. Philippe tallied 16 points and connected on two, three-point baskets. He missed the first nine games, but after appearing in four averaging 9.5 per game. Since that, he's started in nine straight games with a high of 22 in his first career-start as a Charger.
Big Man Does it…Again
For his second straight game, New Haven's seven-footer Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), recorded a double-double. With 12 points and 16 rebounds at Franklin Pierce and 12 points with 10 rebounds against Southern New Hampshire, Majak now has three double-doubles on the season.
Majak leads the team in not only rebounds, but blocks as well. In fact, he leads the conference averaging 3.0 blocks per game. He put up three at Franklin Pierce allowing him to move up to sixth place in New Haven history for most in a single season at 65.
When and Where
Get ready for a packed gymnasium come Wednesday, Feb. 16 for the last home game of the regular season for the Chargers. Before the start of the men's game at 7:30 p.m., the University of New Haven will be honoring three seniors on the team: Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech), Antonio Lopez (Medford, N.Y./St. Anthony's), and Devon Moore (Hanover, P.A.).
In part with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, this rivalry game will stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. SAAC will be giving away t-shirts to bring awareness to the student body. Both the men and women will be warming up in these shirts to promote their awareness of this topic.
During halftime of the men's game, the University of New Haven football team will be awarded the NE10 trophy for leading the conference throughout the season. The Chargers went undefeated in the NE10 this season, and continued into the NCAA DII Championship falling to Kutztown in the second round.
