WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A hot shooting first half for Saint Rose gave them an early lead and they held on as the Chargers stormed back late but couldn't overcome the deficit, dropping a 72-67 decision to the visiting Golden Knights. With the loss, New Haven falls to 13-7 overall and 10-5 in the Northeast-10.

Graduate guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) led the Chargers on the night matching his season-high of 21, closing out the game shooting 8-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and added three points at the free throw line. He also led New Haven with six assists and a pair of steals.

Lane was one of three players to finish in double figures with transfer Ty Perry (Boston, Mass./Brighton) and senior guard Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) who finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively. In addition to Lane's hot hand, Perry also finished 5-of-7 from the field, while adding a perfect 4-of-4 effort at the free throw line. Overall, 61 of the 67 points for New Haven came from its starting five as Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) and Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) finished with eight and six points, respectively. Majak also led New Haven with 11 rebounds.

As a team, New Haven shot 49 percent from the field, connecting on 25-of-51 from the field, with five of those field goals coming from outside the arc. The Chargers also added 12 points at the free throw line, with those coming on 16 attempts.

The Chargers will continue a three-game homestand in the friendly con­fines of Charger Gymnasium this com­ing weekend when they welcome the American International Yellow Jack­ets to West Haven for a rematch of the earlier season meeting which fell comfortably in favor of New Haven, 81-54. The game also being the final week­end game in the regular season, prior to tip, New Haven will honor seven players who will all complete their eligibility following the season. Tip-off against the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. with all of the action available live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·        New Haven opened up the game scoring the first five points of the game with Lane netting a bucket and free throw and Perry adding a jumper.

·        Defensively, the Chargers held Saint Rose without a field goal for nearly three minutes, with Max Jusianiec scoring the first of what turned out to be 14 field goals as he finished with a game-high 39 points.

·        New Haven maintained that early lead through the first five-plus minutes before Jusianiec provided the first lead change of the half.

·        A layup from Kendall McMillan (Columbia, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) provided a 10-9 lead for the Chargers, but that would be the final time New Haven would lead as the Golden Knights took the lead for good with 12:54 remaining before the intermission.

·        After a 12-12 stalemate, the Golden Knights scored 16 of the next 20 points to take their first double digit lead at 28-15 with 9:15 remaining.

·        From that point the Chargers managed to cut the lead back to single digits once before halftime, scoring five straight with the last three on a three pointer from Thomas with five minutes remaining.

·        Saint Rose responded however, gaining its largest lead of the half at 16 with under three minutes to play as they used a 10-1 run to open up a 41-25 advantage.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·        The Golden Knights maintained their double digit lead for the first nine minutes of the second half as the Chargers began to whittle away at the deficit after facing a 60-46 deficit with 13:11 to play.

·        From that point, the Chargers used a 14-2 run to cut its lead down to a single possession as Thomas drained another three pointer with 6:23 remaining that put the deficit to 62-60.

·        The teams would trade the next two buckets with a layup from Braithwaite again pulling his team within a pair. However, the Golden Knights answered with a 5-0 run with another three from Jusianiec broke what was a nearly 10 minute stretch without a field goal.

·        The Golden Knights managed to get their lead back to eight with 67 seconds remaining and despite Saint Rose missing the front end of a one-and-one twice in the final minute, New Haven was only able to get within four which came on a dunk from Majak.