SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – In its first test of the season, the New Haven men's basketball team came up short in a high scoring affair, dropping a 92-88 decision to the Jefferson Rams on day one of the Conference Crossover Challenge hosted by American International. The Chargers will get right back to work on Sunday as they will take on Holy Family in the final of the two-game tournament, with opening tipoff set for 12:00 p.m. at AIC's Butova Gymnasium.

A pair of Chargers each finished the opening game of the season surpassing the 20-point plateau with senior transfer guard Seth Sharif-Brown (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) leading all scorers in the game with 27 points. The transfer from Dominican finished the game shooting 10-of-15 from the field with a trio of buckets from outside the three pint arc, while going 4-of-8 at the line. In addition, he added six boards, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Joining him in leading the offense was sophomore Jah'Likai King (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) who finished with 23 points, while Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) and Ugo Nwachukwu (Imo State, Nigeria/Springfield Commonwealth Academy) joined in double figure with 12 and 10 points, respectively. All combined, just one of the five starters finished in double figures as Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) missed by a single point as he finished with nine points and was tied with Sharif-Brown and Nwachukwu with a team-best six rebounds.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the field, connecting on 31-of-61 field goal attempts. Nine of the 31 buckets came from beyond the arc, while the Chargers added 17 points at the free throw line, those coming on 26 attempts. The Chargers also trailed in the battle of the boards by a 35-33 margin, however they led the second chance points battle, scoring 10 points off of seven offensive boards.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

·        After both teams went empty in their first possessions, New Haven struck first just 35 seconds into the action when Sharif-Brown scored his first bucket in Blue and Gold on a fast break after collecting the lost ball steal after a defensive rebound for the Rams.

·        Jefferson quickly knotted the game at two, however New Have answered by scoring the next five points to take a 7-2 lead thanks to a three pointer from King and a fast break layup from Jeffries.

·        The largest lead for either team in the first 10 minutes came from the Chargers on an 11-5 lead at the 15:57 mark with that margin made possible thanks to a layup from King.

·        Jefferson managed to knot the score two more times before taking their first lead of the game at the 11:18 mark with that lead change sparking a 9-0 run for the Rams as they build up a 23-16 lead.

·        The back-and-forth action continued at a fast pace as the Chargers managed to cut their deficit down to two less than two minutes later. Jefferson wouldn't succumb to the pressure, rebuilding their lead, this time to their largest of the half, an eight point lead with 5:47 remaining.

·        New Haven was able to completely erase that eight point deficit with just under two minutes remaining as Kyle Kearson (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) got in on the scoring action with a free throw that capped off a 15-7 rally for the Blue and Gold.

·        Sharif-Brown led all scorers in the first 20 minutes as he racked up 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field with three long range buckets.

·        In the first 20 minutes all but five of the Chargers 38 points came from its starting five as King and Jeffries followed Sharif-Brown with seven and six points, respectively.

SECOND HALF QUOTES

·        Unlike the opening half, the Rams struck first to start the second period with the Chargers first five points in the frame all coming at the free throw line. The Chargers first bucket of the period came with just under three minutes of action in the form of a jumper outside the paint from King.

·        Less than a minute later, Nwachukwu connected on a jumper for another lead change, which Sharif-Brown extended to three on a layup that capped off a 9-2 run for the Blue and Gold.

·        Three more lead changes followed over the next two minutes, the latter of which came on a three pointer from King with 14:07 to play. That three pointer began another Charger run, this time a 13-4 rally that resulted in the Blue and Gold largest lead of the day at 65-57 with 10:27 to play. The highlight of the rally coming in the form of back-to-back three's from Simmon.

·        The Chargers maintained that lead for the next four minutes before a three pointer at 6:25 provided the final lead change as the Rams were able to build up their largest lead of the game, a double-digit advantage just inside the five minute mark.

·        New Haven managed to cut that double digit lead to as little as two points with 1:59 remaining as the Chargers answered that deficit with an 8-0 run, with six of those eight points coming from King.

·        Overall for the half, King led the Chargers with 16 points, one of three player to rack up double figures in the second half. In the final 20 minutes of action, all but two of the 50 points came from its starting five with Javel Cherry (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) providing the only bench points.