GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: November 21, 2023
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LOCATION: Charger Gymnasium @ the Hazell Athletic Center
West Haven, Conn. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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THE LEAD
For the first time this season, the New Haven men's basketball team will make an appearance in West Haven as they welcome the Pace Setters for their debut at Charger Gymnasium at the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletic Center. As Pace enters looking to stay unbeaten on the season, the only NE10 team, New Haven looks to snap a two-game skid which included a loss in the NE10 opener this past weekend at Bentley.
SCOUTING NEW HAVEN
Four games into the season and youth continues to be the name of the game for the Chargers with two of the top three scorers playing their first seasons of collegiate ball. Leading the way is Jah'Likai King (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) who put on a scoring clinic in his collegiate debut when he drained 35 points, going 14-of-21 from the field against Post, and for the season is averaging 16.3 points per game. Next up on the rookie train is Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) who redshirt last season and it has paid off as he scored in double figures in the first two Chargers games, putting up 17 in the opener and following it up with 11 the next day against Wilmington. Heading into the home opener, he is averaging 8.8 ppg. Returning leader Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) is certainly not someone to look past as he is averaging 12.3 points in the first four games, including a season-high 18 in the second game against Wilmington. Two other highlights have come on the defensive end where Jojo Lingisi-Ombongo (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Thomas More), Tyler Saint-Furcy (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence Woodmere Academy) and King have all excelled on the takeaway with nine, seven and seven steals, respectively. As a team, New Haven has protected the rock, averaging just 14.0 turnovers per game, while forcing their opponents into 14.0 and from those opponent giveaways, the Chargers have net 50 points.
SCOUTING PACE
The lone team in the Northeast-10 Conference who has yet to suffer a loss, Pace enters Tuesday night looking to remain that way with just one road game in that stretch, at Molloy. For the season, Pace is outscoring its opponents by 7.0Â points per game and outrebounding them by 3.3 per game. Individually it is Bryan Powell who leads the team with an average of 20.0 points per game, one of four players on the squad that average in double figures. Two more starters are among those four with Tray Alexander at 14.0 ppg and Jaden Kealey at 10.3 ppg, while Chaz Harvey has come off the bench to average 12.0 ppg. Among all the leaders, three of the four are shooting at a clip of 50% or better, including two over 55%, led by Powell at 56.9 percent (29-of-51). Powell also leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game, while Alexander has dished out an incredible 30 assists in the first four games, while as a team, the Setters have 76 assists on 107 total buckets.
SERIES HISTORY vs PACE
·       New Haven and Pace meet for the 37h time in the history of the two programs.
·       New Haven holds a 21-15 advantage in the previous 35 games, including a series of 13-of-15 that stretched the 2010's.
·       New Haven took a pair of victories over the Setters last season, which broke a four-game win streak in favor of Pace.
·       The second of those wins (83-57) last season came in the opening game of the NCAA Division II East Regionals as the Chargers went on to win their first ever Regional Championship and advance to the Elite Eight.
NEXT TIME OUT
After a quick hiatus for the Thanksgiving Holiday, New Haven will get right back to work when they head back on the road for the first of two-straight away from Charger Gym. First on that list is a non-conference test in Orangeburg, N.Y. against Dominican, with that game slated for Sunday, November 26 at 1:00 p.m.
