GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: March 14, 2023 LOCATION: Stoutenburgh Gymnasium Manchester, N.H. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
It's winner take all on a snowy Tuesday night in Manchester, NH with the victor advancing to the D2 Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind. It'll be a Northeast-10 showdown as the Chargers advanced to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship game for the first time in program history and will face the second seeded Bentley Falcons. 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 15.5 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 52.1 percent (175-336) and leads the team with 131 assists and 47 steals. Junior Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) rounds out the top three with a 13.0 ppg average, including leading the team from beyond the arc with 83 three pointers. With his second three pointer in the East Region Semifinal against Caldwell, Thomas became the second player this year and the 39th in program history to break the 1,000 point plateau. Senior center Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) has also been a major contributor on the season, averaging 7.0 points and an NE10 leading 11.8 rebounds per game. Majak also leads the team, the NE10 and is third in the nation with 98 blocked shots. 

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Bentley finds itself in a very familiar place on Tuesday night looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in as many seasons after winning the NE10 and NCAA East Region title one year ago. As a team, the Falcons lead all NE10 teams with a 79.6 points per game average, led by junior Zach Laput, the NE10 Player of the Year, who averages a conference best 20.6 ppg. Overall, all five of the Falcons starters are averaging in double figures with Matt Leritz and Mason Webb next up in the scoring column with averages of 13.9 and 13.8 ppg, respectively, 15th and 16th best in the NE10.

SERIES HISTORY vs BENTLEY

·        New Haven and Bentley meet for the 36th time in the history of the two programs.

·        Bentley holds a 24-11 advantage in the previous 35 games, including a series of 9-straight to open up the series which began during the 1971-72 season.

·        In recent memory, New Haven had rattled off five straight wins, including a double OT win just prior to the CoVID shutdown.

·        Last season, Bentley earned the victory in the lone meeting which came in mid-January, taking a slim 80-78 decision at the Dana Center.

·        New Haven won the one and only meeting this season, rebounding from a 27 point deficit to have Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) score the game-winner as time expired on the Falcons home court.

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 7-11 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 Bentley in the championship marks the first time the two teams will meet in the NCAA Tournament.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB PART DEUX
With his second of four three pointers in the NCAA East Region Semifinal against Caldwell junior Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) became the second player this season to break the 1,000 point plateau, now the 39th player in school history. With another season of eligibility in a Charger uniform, Thomas has plenty of time left to climb the all-time list. Based on his current scoring this season, if he were to match that performance in 2023-24, he would close out his career 15th all-time in program history. However, a major outside shooting threat for the Chargers, Thomas could land himself higher on the list than that.

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST BENTLEY
Never count the Chargers out. Trailing by 27 points with 19 minutes left, the New Haven men's basketball team clawed its way back and found itself with a chance to win in the final seconds when Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) drove the left side to the baseline where he finger-rolled the game winner as the buzzer sounded to shock the Bentley Falcons 60-59. The game-winner from Lane closed out the second 20+ game of the season for the graduate guard as he led all Chargers on the night with a season-best 21 points, going 9-of-20 from the field, including a trio of three pointers. He also led New Haven dishing out six assists. Overall, Lane was one of three players in double figures joined by Justin Hendrick (Valley Stream, N.Y./St. Francis) who came off the bench to spark the Chargers and finish with a career-high 14 points and junior Davontrey Thomas (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) who finished with 11 points. As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 37.5 percent from the field, connecting on 24-of-64 field goal attempts with 10 three pointers. The Chargers rebounded from a 16.1 percent opening half to shoot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) in the second half. Additionally, after hitting just one three pointer in the first half, New Haven finished 9-of-21 in the second half as they chipped away at the deficit.

NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of Sunday night's East Region championship between New Haven and Bentley will advance to the elite eight which one all eight teams have advanced will be reseeded by the national committee. Elite Eight games are slated for Tuesday, March 21 with the Final Four on Thursday March 23. The NCAA D2 Championship is scheduled for Saturday, March 25. The elite eight, national semifinals and national championship will all be held at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.