RINDGE, N.H. – Sophomore Jah'Likai King (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) led a trio of double digit Chargers as the Blue and Gold - opened up Northeast-10 Conference action with an 81-75 road win over the Franklin Pierce Ravens. With the win, New Haven improves to 2-1 on the season wile the Ravens fall to 0-3.

The sophomore, who is the reigning Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year, led the Chargers offense in a see-saw battle against the Ravens with a total of 15 lead changes and 11 ties. King finished the game with 21 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the field, including a pair of three pointers and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Joining him in creating the top scoring trio was senior guard Seth Sharif-Brown (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) with 18 and redshirt sophomore Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) with 11. Seven of Simmon's points came at the line where he finished 7-of-8 for the game, while Shariff-Brown closed out his day connecting on 8-of-14 from the field including a pair of free throws.

As a team, New Haven concluded the afternoon shooting 49.1 percent from the field, connecting on 27-of-55 attempts, with seven of those baskets from outside the three point arc. The Blue and Gold also capitalized at the free throw line where they finished 20-of-30. The Chargers also combined for 14 assists among 27 their 27 field goals, with Simmon and junior guard Javel Cherry (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) leading the way with three each.

The Ravens closed out the home game with a 38-30 advantage in the battle of the boards, with all 10 of the Chargers who saw action finishing with at least one rebounds. Leading the efforts was senior guard Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass./Matignon) with six boards while senior forward Tarese Morse (Springfield, Mass./Springfield) followed with five.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·        The back-and-forth battle would begin right out of the gates with three ties and five lead changes in the first five minutes before the Chargers set out on a 13-3 run to open up the first double digit advantage of the contest with 12:10 remaining before the break.

·        Three different players scoring the rally with the Sharif-Brown leading the way with a pair of three pointers and leading the way with eight total points. Cherry also added a three in the run.

·        Back-to-back buckets from Simmon and Najimi George (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) gave New Haven the largest lead of the half at 12 just past the halfway point, however the Ravens answered that deficit by beginning to whittle the lead away and eventually knotting the score at 31 just five minutes later.

·        Neither team would muster a lead larger than three down the stretch with the home team taking a 41-39 lead into the locker room at the break.

·        Shariff-Brown led all scorers in the opening half with 14 points as he connected on 6-of-9 from the field as the Chargers shot 48.4 percent as a team from the floor.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·        Coming out of the break it was the Ravens turn to open up their largest lead of the game, taking a seven point advantage just over three minutes into the action and again 90 seconds later.

·        New Haven answered by rattling off six straight points to pull within one and then eventually knot the game at 52. King and Shariff-Brown would split the six points with King leading the duo with four in that stretch.

·        Despite that tie at 52, the Ravens wouldn't relinquish their lead for another two minutes when Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) drilled a three pointer for his first bucket of the day. From that point the two teams would tie at 58, 62 and 64, with the latter of those the final stalemate of the afternoon.

·        New Haven broke that 64-64 draw by scoring 12 of the next 16 points to regain an eight point lead with three minutes to play. King was the beneficiary of that rally, scoring eight of the 12 points.

·        A Simmon jumper outside the paint with 1:41 to play regained an eight point advantage for the Chargers and would prove to be the final bucket of the game for New Haven as they would score their final three points at the line to secure the victory.

·        The eight points for King in that late rally were part of 14 for him in the second half as he led all scorers and was the only player to reach double figures in the final 20 minutes of action.

UP NEXT

New Haven will continue a series of three consecutive Northeast-10 Conference games when it next takes the court for its home opening game on Wednesday, November 20 when the Pace Setters make the trip to West Haven. Opening tip in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.