WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Led by graduate guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) who finished with a game-high 23 points, the New Haven men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale 65-64 to the visiting Saint Anselm Hawks on Tuesday night at Charger Gymnasium.

With the decision, New Haven closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a 17-9 overall record and a 13-7 mark in the Northeast-10. Following the loss to the Hawks, New Haven scores the fourth seed in the upcoming playoffs where they will host the American International Yellow Jackets in the opening round of the conference championship on Friday, February 24. Tip off in the playoff contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. following the women's game.

Lane's 23 points was part of a trio of players in double figures, followed by Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) and Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) who finished with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Lane's 23 points came on a hot shooting night where he finished 10-of-12 from the field, including a perfect 2-of-2 form beyond the three point arc. In addition, he dished out seven assists.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 26-of-51 from the field, with seven of those 26 field goals from beyond the three point arc. In addition, the Chargers were 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Saint Anselm also won the battle of the boards with a 31-23 advantage, with Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) leading all players in the game with nine boards, while he also finished with five total blocks.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         New Haven opened up the scoring on the night with Olawoye draining a floating jumper off the opening tip.

·         Saint Anselm answered less than a minute later with their first bucket of the night, the first of 10 three pointers on the night for the Hawks. That three also provided the first lead change, one the Hawks would maintain until the seven minute mark.

·         After swapping the lead in their favor, the Hawks went on to extend their lead to as much as nine in the first half, that coming at the midway point courtesy of another three pointer.

·         After facing that nine point deficit, the Chargers went on a 12-2 run which not only erased the deficit but provided the second lead change of the night with a last break layup from Olawoye resulting in a 26-25 UNH lead.

·         That lead change was the first of four straight, with the final in favor of the Hawks, one they would hold onto through the halftime buzzer.

·         The Hawks managed to regain as much as a seven point lead in the final minutes of the half, doing so twice, the second of which provided the margin at the buzzer, 42-35.

·         Lane closed out the first 20 minutes leading all players in the game with 12 points as he went a perfect 5-of-5 from the field with both of his three pointers coming during that stretch.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·         Saint Anselm came out of the locker room firing, building its lead to as much as 13, 48-35, less than two minutes into the action.

·         New Haven responded to that baker's dozen deficit by pulling together another rally, this time a 14-2 skirmish that resulted in a one point game, with Lane going back-to-back 32 seconds apart to pull within 50-49.

·         The Hawks answered by trading buckets with New Haven over the next three-plus minutes before Olawoye went back-to-back from the field for the first lead change of the half with 7:35 remaining.

·         The next three possessions all resulted in more lead changes, before the Hawks were able to put back-to-back buckets together for a four point, 63-59, lead with 5:13 remaining.

·         From that point, the two squads would meet in a defensive battle with just seven points combined over the final five minutes.

·         The first four of those points all came from the Chargers as Lane knotted the score at 63 with 3:09 to play.

·         Saint Anselm regained the advantage with a perfect 2-of-2 effort at the line, while New Haven went to the line with 47 seconds remaining but managed just 1-of-2.

·         Facing the one-point deficit with five seconds to play, the Chargers pulled down a big rebounds on the missed front-end of a one-and-one opportunity for Saint Anselm, but the Hawks were able to limit New Haven to under three seconds for a shot, with the attempt from Olawoye coming up short of the rim.