For the third time this month, the University of New Haven men's basketball team will be making the journey from West Haven to New Hampshire.
After quick trips back and forth to Southern New Hampshire and Saint Anselm, the Chargers are hoping for an extended stay when they return to Manchester for the Division II East Region Championship.
Knowing that a loss would end the season, the Chargers are packing for six days as they want to be playing in Tuesday's regional final.
Before that happens, New Haven must dispatch Northeast-10 rival Pace in the first round on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"Two NE10 teams, we see them every year," said New Haven senior guard Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy), who will become the first player in program history to play in three different NCAA tournaments. "They know how we play, we know how they play and it is just about who is going to be the tougher team at the end of the day."
Four of the five starters for New Haven will not be returning next season so there is even more of a sense of urgency for a New Haven team that is coming off a run to another NE10 title game.
"We had a good run in the Northeast-10 tournament," New Haven coach Ted Hotaling said. "I thought we had to stay in rhythm, going all the way to the championship game so we have been able to continue to play before the [NCAA] tournament which I think it important at this time of the year. Our guys were excited to get back to a place we were last year and just try to win one game at a time."
Top-seeded Saint Anselm topped New Haven in the regular-season finale and again in the NE10 title game. There could be a showdown on the Hawks' home court on Sunday with a spot in the regional final on the line. None of those will happen without New Haven topping a Pace team that led the Chargers by five points midway through the second half on Jan. 21 before New Haven rallied for the home win.
"They are really good defensively," Hotaling said. "All year long New Haven and Pace have been metrically the two best defenses in the league. They have an older group similar to us and we are very familiar with us. It has always been really tough games against Pace, especially the last couple of years."
New Haven had a three-game losing streak but every other time the Chargers were coming off a loss, they bounced back the next time out.
"We are an older group," Lane said. "We understand that wins and losses come with it. Every night we go out there and try to put out the best effort, hit shots and we just try to focus on what is ahead of us."
Lane is trying to focus on what is ahead and not reflecting on his time at New Haven. He played in three NE10 title games and is now ready for some more March Madness beginning on Saturday night.
