GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: March 12, 2023 LOCATION: Stoutenburgh Gymnasium Manchester, N.H. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
For the second straight season, the New Haven men's basketball team won its first game in the NCAA East Region Championship and will now play in the semifinals where they will take on Caldwell who defeated top seed, and host, Saint Anselm. The Chargers and Cougars will be playing for a spot in the regional championship game which is slated for Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. All of the action from Saint Anselm's Stoutenburgh Gymnasium can be seen live on SaintAnselmHawks.tv.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Heading into the national postseason tournament, New Haven continues to rely heavily on its starters. With the recent loss of Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) to injury, the remaining four starters are all averaging 29+ minutes per game, with three of the four averaging in double figures. With his season-best (for all Chargers) of 30 points in the regional quarterfinal vs Pace, senior transfer guard Ty Perry (Boston, Mass./Brighton) took over the top spot in the scoring column for the Chargers, now averaging 15.4 points per game. For the season, Perry has scored 20+ a team-best nine times. Following him in the scoring column is graduate guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) is averaging 14.9 ppg average. Lane has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, and surpassed 20+ in the scoring column in five games. For the season, lane is shooting 52.3 percent (169-323) and leads the team with 122 assists and 45 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 79 three pointers and is currently just four points shy of becoming the second player this season to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Senior center Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) has also been a major contributor on the season, averaging 6.9 points and an NE10 leading 11.6 rebounds per game. Majak also leads the team, the NE10 and is third in the nation with 93 blocked shots. 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Having to win its conference championship on the road at Jefferson 72-69, the Caldwell men's basketball team earned the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA East Region Championship. Winners of their last four games, the Cougars enter the semifinal round with a 22-9 overall record after knocking off the region's top seed in Saint Anselm in the quarterfinals. Caldwell was one of two eight seeds to pull the ultimate upset in the regional round as an eight seed beating a one seed. For the season, Caldwell is led by who leads the team in three major categories, most importantly in scoring where he averages 19.1 points per game. Not much of an outside shooting threat, Evans does have 36 three pointers among his 195 baskets, but he also drives to the hoop looking to get to the line where he has been a team-best 230 times, converting 167 of those attempts. In addition to his scoring, he also leads the team in assists (121) and steals (60). The Cougars also have a big man to deal with as Jarnel Rancy enters the game as the NCAA's top shot blocker with 129 total on the season. He also leads the rebounding efforts with an average of 5.9 per game.

SERIES HISTORY vs CALDWELL

·        New Haven and Caldwell meet for just the second time in the history of the two programs.

·        Caldwell won the only meeting between the Chargers and Cougars, that coming in the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the first under head coach Ted Hotaling.

NEW HAVEN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
New Haven makes its 10th appearance in the NCAA Championship and its third in the last four seasons. The 2023 appearance is also the fifth in the 12-year tenure of head coach Ted Hotaling. Overall, New Haven owns a 6-11 record in the NCAA Championship. Including this season, the Chargers have won their first-round game in each of its last three appearances (2019, 2022, 2023) and four of its last five appearances (2013). The meeting against Caldwell in the semifinals marks the first time the two teams will meet in the NCAA Tournament.

BUILDING A POWER BRAND
With this year's men's basketball selection to the national tournament, the University of New Have is part of an elite group as one of just three schools who have qualified for the national tournament in both football and men's basketball in each of the last two seasons. In 2022, the Chargers were one of eight teams who advanced to both tournament and one of just three schools to win at least one game in both tournaments. This season, we take it one step further and are now one of just three teams to advance to the national tournament in both sports in back-to-back seasons. The other two teams joining the Chargers are Northwest Missouri State and Ferris State, the latter of which one the NCAA Division II Football Championship.

NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of Sunday night's East Region semifinal between New Haven and Caldwell will advance to the championship game where they will face the winner of second seeded Bentley and third seeded Southern New Hampshire. The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 14 with the match-up of these two winners set for a 7:00 p.m. tip. All games in the East Regional will be played at Saint Anselm's Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.