PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Coming off of its Northeast-10 opening win last time out, the New Haven men's basketball got behind early and were unable to recover as they dropped a 56-73 decision to the visiting Pace Setters in its home opener. With the decision, New Haven falls to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

A pair of Chargers closed out the night in double figures with sophomore Jah'likai King leading all players in the game with 16 points. The guard finished the game shooting 5-of-11 form the field, all from inside the arc, and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Joining him in leading the scoring efforts was redshirt-sophomore Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) who went 6-of-14 from the field with three from outside the arc for 15 points.

As a team, New Haven closed out the game shooting 40.8 percent from the field, connecting on 40.8 percent with the best efforts coming in the second half where the Blue and Gold combined to shoot 52%, rebounding from a first half where they were 7-of-24.

The Setters also held a commanding lead in the battle of the boards with a 42-28 margin, with all nine players that saw time for the Chargers contributing at least one of those 28 rebounds. Leading the way was Simmon with six and Ugo Nwachukwu (Imo State, Nigeria/Springfield Commonwealth Academy) with five.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·        Despite a pair of free throws less than two minutes into the action, the Chargers got off to a sluggish start, connecting on just 1-of-13 from the field to start the game. That lone bucket was a pull-up jumper from King.

·        With that slow start, the Setters were able to open up as much as a 26 point lead with just under eight minutes to play before the break.

·        Facing that deficit, the Chargers began to whittle away with four straight buckets, three of them from beyond the arc, one each from Javel Cherry (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie), Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) and Simmon.

·        With the help of that three point barrage, the Chargers were able to pull within 15 before the Setters regained a 20 point advantage, taking a 25 point lead into the locker room.

·        At the break, the Chargers were shooting 29.2 percent from the field with seven field goals in 24 attempts, three of those coming form outside the arc. The Blue and Gold was also 4-of-4 at the free throw line.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·        The 15-minute intermission helped New Haven regroup from the field as it opened up the second half connecting on each of its first seven field goal attempts, while limiting Pace to just 4-of-14 in that same stretch. Included among those seven field goals were three from outside the arc.

·        The seventh of those was one of the three long range baskets with Kyle Kearson (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) netting the final and cutting the deficit to 14, 54-40, just under eight minutes into the half.

·        The Setters regrouped and would answer that final three pointer with six-straight points to regain a 20 point lead, however the Chargers countered with a four point run of their own on buckets from Seth Shariff-Brown and King.

·        The team would trade baskets over the next five minutes before the Chargers answered a 19 point deficit by scoring six straight capped off with a pick pocket and dunk from Tarese Morse (Springfield, Mass./Springfield) that cut the deficit to a baker's dozen, 52-65.

·        The Setters would let New Haven get no closer than 13 points with that happening twice more before the final buzzer.

UP NEXT

After enjoying a bye weekend, the Chargers will continue NE10 play on Tuesday, November 26 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to take on the Assumption Greyhounds. Opening tip from Laska Gymnasium is slated for 7:30 p.m. following the women's game, with all of the action available live on NE10 Now on Flo College.