GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: February 26, 2023 LOCATION: Charger Gymnasium West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE STATS STATS GAME NOTES

THE LEAD
The quest for a first NE10 title continues for the New Haven men's basketball team when they host a second game in the NE10 playoffs on Sunday afternoon with a visit from the Southern Connecticut Owls. Tipoff in the championship quarterfinal is slated for 3:00 p.m. with all of the action available on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Heading into its second postseason game, New Haven continues to rely heavily on its starting five who are all averaging more than 30 minutes per game, with three of the five averaging in double figures and the five combined providing 86% of the total scoring (1,572-of-1,837 total points). Leading the team individually is transfer guard Ty Perry (Boston, Mass./Brighton) who finished with finished with 15+ for the third time in the last four games and took over the lead spot with his 14.8 ppg average. For the season, Perry has scored 20+ in eight games including hitting a career-high of 24 on three occasions. Graduate guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) follows him who with four 20+ games on the season, for an average to 14.7 ppg, shooting 53.1 percent (146-275) for the season. In addition, Lane leads the team with 99 assists and 41 steals. Junior Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) rounds out the top three with a 12.8 ppg average, including leading the team from beyond the arc with 67 three pointers. Rounding out the starting five is Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) and Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) who average 9.5 and 7.0 ppg, respectively. Among the five, Majak leads the team and the NE10 with an impressive 60.6 percent (77-of-127) shooting from the field. Majak is also the NE10's leading rebounder (11.2 per game) and shot blocker with 77 stuffed attempts, which also rank him third and second nationally in rebounding and total blocks, respectively.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
The Owls closed out the regular season winning three of its last five games and added a first round win over Saint Rose to advance to this afternoon's quarterfinal matchup. Southern Connecticut closed out the regular season in a four-way tie for fifth place, winning the tiebreaker to earn the fifth seed. For the season, the Owls are outscoring their opponents by five points per game, putting up an average of 73.1 ppg, while shooting 44 percent from the field, including 36 percent from beyond the arc. Individually, four players are averaging in double figures with Ulyen Coleman leading all players, as one of two on the team to start all 29 game, with his average of 15.7 ppg. Sean James follows with an average of 12.6 ppg, while Marty Silvera and Zack Penn round out the leading scorers with 11.8 and 10.2 ppg, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY vs SCSU

·        In one of the most storied series in program history, New Haven and Southern New Hampshire meet for the 97th time in the history of the two programs.

·        New Haven holds a 50-46 advantage in the previous 96 games, including a series of 12-straight wins during the late 80's.

·        New Haven opened up the series winning six straight games before allowing the Owls to nearly even the series with five-straight of their own.

·        Last season, New Haven swept the home-and-home series after the Owls did the same the season prior (2019-20).

NE10 TOURNAMENT HISTORY
New Haven makes its 10th appearance in the NE10 Championship since joining the league for the 2008-09 season. This season also represents the sixth straight appearance for the Blue and Gold. Overall, the Chargers hold a 3-5 record in the quarterfinal round of the Championship and have advanced to the semifinals three times, including back-to-back appearances in 2019 and 2020. Overall, New Haven and Southern Connecticut have met three times previously in the NE10 Championship and hold a 1-2 record in those meetings.

EARLIER THIS SEASON VS THE OWLS
When two of the best defensive teams in the NE10 got together in mid February, it seemed apropos that it was defensive dynamo Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) who stood the tallest in more ways than one. The final of Majak's 11 blocked shots came with the Chargers protecting a three-point lead with 1:54 left to play as New Haven came away with the 58-51 victory over rival Southern Connecticut State. New Haven led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held the Owls to 5-of-38 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The Owls pulled within three points on three different occasions in the final five minutes but could get no closer. The 7-foot-1 Majak had a career-high in blocked shots and that included three in one frenetic sequence midway through the first half. He also blocked nine shots the last time that New Haven faced the Owls. Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) had 14 points and six rebounds, Ty Perry (Boston, Mass./Brighton) finished with 13 points and Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) had nine points and seven rebounds for the Chargers.

NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of this afternoons NE10 quarterfinal will find itself with a date against the winner of the quarterfinal featuring #1 Southern New Hampshire and #8 Franklin Pierce in the semifinal round. The highest remaining seed in that game will also earn hosting rights. The semifinal round is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1. All of the postseason playoff action be available live on NE10 NOW.