GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: March 21, 2023 LOCATION: Ford Center Evansville, Ind. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
For the first time in program history, the New Haven men's basketball team will be playing in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after earning the programs first ever NCAA East Region Championship outscoring their three opponents in the regionals by 18.7 points per game, limiting them to 36.2 percent shooting, including just 26.8 percent from beyond the three-point arc. The Elite Eight pairing for New Haven is a team the Chargers has met just once prior in its 60-year history, West Liberty. The Elite Eight showdown between New Haven and the Chargers can be seen live on NCAA.com.

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 15.3 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 15.0 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 52.4 percent (182-347) and leads the team with 137 assists and 47 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 85 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, with that ranking third in NCAA D2, while his 390 total rebounds is the most by any single player. Majak also leads the team, the NE10 and is third in the nation with 101 blocked shots. 

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Making their third straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, West Liberty cruised through the Atlantic Regional as the No. 2 seed, knocking off top seeded IUP in the championship game 70-53 to punch its ticket to Evansville. With a 31-3 overall record, West Liberty has won its last 16 straight games heading into the national quarterfinals as the second highest scoring team in the country at 100.1 points per game, second only to top seeded Nova Southeastern (103.1). As a team, the Hilltoppers are shooting 49.6 percent from the field, while averaging 37.5 rebounds per game. As part of that high scoring offense, West Liberty also leads the nation in assists per game (22.1) and three pointers per game (12.4). All five of the Hilltoppers starting five are averaging in double figures, led by junior guard Bryce Butler who is 11th in the country averaging 22.6 points per game. He also leads the team with an average of 7.7 rebounds per game and is second with 126 assists.

SERIES HISTORY vs WEST LIBERTY

·        New Haven and West Liberty have met just once in the history of the two programs when the Hilltoppers visited West Haven in December of 2000. New Haven earned a 69-68 victory in that game.

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 an 8-11 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 West Liberty in the Elite Eight 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 Tuesday's Elite Eight battle between New Haven and West Liberty will advance to the national semifinals where they will face the winner of the quarterfinal featuring No. 3 seed Black Hills State and No. 6 seed Minnesota Duluth. The national semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, March 23 with the games being televised live on CBS Sports Network. Tipoff in the semifinals is slated for 2:00 p.m. EST.