New Haven Starters: Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy), Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech), Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y. /Elmont Memorial High School ), Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie)
Southern Connecticut Starters: Jamaal Waters, Alex Lin, C.J. Seaforth, Lyron Bennett, Ulyen Coleman
How it Happened
New Haven's closed the curtain on at-home appearances of this regular-season pushing a 10-game home winning streak, the longest since 2002-03 when they won 11 in a row at home. A five-point setback at the half meant nothing for Ted Hotaling and his team. The resilient Chargers scored 39 in the second half to come back on top 70-56 to the biggest rival on their schedule: the Southern Connecticut Owls.
The Blue and Gold visited the Owls, just down the road earlier, in the season which started a four-game winning streak. Now, New Haven swept their competition to now grasp a five-game winning streak.
The lead exchanged possessions four times throughout the night, along with a total of seven ties. The full, packed stands were in for a treat from the minute they walked through the door.
The Owls shot 44.7 percent from the floor to close out the first half, New Haven headed to the locker room down a hand due to a 12-32 shooting performance. The Chargers missed 11 of their 14 three-point attempts in the first twenty minutes.
After the break, intensity flooded the gym. Four dunks were featured in the final half of the game, a total of six throughout the night for New Haven. As for defense, Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) blocked seven shots in the last 20 minutes of action. Accompanied with two in the first, Majak set a new career-high of nine blocks. That wasn't his only career high, the big man surpassed his previous career-high in blocks by one, now hitting 18.
New Haven's largest lead of the night was by 15, which occurred three times. After being fouled by C.J. Seaforth, Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y. /Elmont Memorial High School ) went 1-of-2 from the stripe to put the score to 66-15. The Chargers had 19 attempts from the stripe, and connected on 13.
Immediately after, Isaish Boissard hit a jumper to lessen New Haven's lead to three. Boissard the turned the ball over on Southern's next possession, Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) stole the rock found Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y. /Elmont Memorial High School ) down court who handed it off to senior guard, Derrick Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Green Tech) for the smash.
In the end, New Haven left the gym with a well-earned 14-point win over their crosstown rival
Inside the Box Score
- New haven had three members in double-digit scoring: Lane (20), Philippe (14), and Majak (12).
- Majak has now recorded a double-double for three games straight. He grabbed 18 boards and put up 12 points. He was just one block shy of hitting a triple-double.
- Along with being the lead scorer for the Chargers, Lane went 5-for-5 at the stripe.
- Only one Owl hit double-digit scoring: Ulyen Coleman. He was the games lead-scorer holding 23 points.
- Southern Connecticut only had one made three-pointer, from Coleman himself.
What's Next
Up next, the Blue and Gold will head to Long Island for their final regular-season matchup, taking on the Adelphi Panthers. After Pace beat Adelphi 69-57, the Panthers were dethroned from first place in the Southwest Division.
Tip off to conclude the regular-season will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 in Garden City, N.Y. at the Center for Recreation and Sport on Adelphi's campus.
