LAKELAND, Fla. – On day one in the Sunshine State, the New Haven men's basketball dropped its opening game of the Mocs Holiday Classic 70-69 to the Barry Buccaneers on Saturday evening. Leading the Chargers on the day was sophomore guard Jah'likai King who finished with 18 points, one of three starters and four players overall to finish in double figures. With the loss, New Haven falls to 6-5 on the season.

King, who also had a contested look at a game-winning basket inside of the final second, saw his team-high scoring come on 5-of-8 shooting with one three pointer while also going 7-of-12 from the free throw line. Joining the sophomore guard in double figures was Seth Sharif-Brown (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) with 15, and both Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) and Javel Cherry (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) who finished with 10 points, Cherry coming off the bench to rack up double figures.

Cherry followed King in the shooting efforts as his 10 points came on 4-of-6 from the field which included a 2-of-3 effort from beyond the three point arc. Brown added to his 15 points with 11 rebounds to complete the double double, while also adding two assists and a steal.

Overall for the game, New Haven finished with 25 field goals which came in 56 attempts for a 44.6 percent average. Among the 25 field goals were eight from outside the three point arc, while the Chargers added 11 points at the free throw line, making half of their 22 attempts. The Chargers also trailed in the battle of the boards with Barry leading 47-33. Sharif-Brown's 11 rebounds led the way for New Haven while nine different players pulled down at least one rebound.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·        New Haven struck first in its debut in the Sunshine State as Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) drilled a three pointer on the Chargers opening possession. The Chargers defense held Barry without a field goal for nearly 90 seconds, however that first bucket provided the first of seven lead changes on the day.

·        Back-to-back baskets from the Blue and Gold, which came one minute apart, provided the next lead change with Simmon converting a layup to flip the score. The Buccaneers answered right back, regaining the lead just 24 seconds later.

·        Trailing 10-7 just four minutes into the game, the Chargers used back-to-back buckets from King to retake the lead, the second of those being a three pointer off a Barry turnover.

·        Despite three ties, the Chargers would hold onto that lead until the 12:37 mark when Barry used a 6-0 run to take the largest lead to that point for either team at 21-17.

·        The teams would trade hoops over the next four-plus minutes until Cherry tied the score at 29 on a floating jumper at the eight minute mark.

·        The Buccaneers answered by scoring six straight and extended that to a 13-3 run that opened up the first double digit lead of the evening with 2:29 to play before intermission.

·        One-of-three at the line from Simmon would cut the deficit to nine at the break, with Barry coming up short on a buzzer beating three point attempt going into the intermission.

·        Cherry would see all 10 of his points for the game come in the opening half as he closed out eight minutes of work going 4-of-5 with a pair of three pointers to lead the Chargers in the scoring column.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·        Barry came of the locker room at the break to score the first points of the half and defensively held New Haven to just one basket in the first five minutes to open up its largest lead of the game at 55-37.

·        Najimi George (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) answered that deficit with a three pointer as he looked to ignite the New Haven offense.

·        Starting with that George three pointer, the Chargers would slowly chip away at the Barry lead, however the Buccaneers would keep the double digit advantage until inside of the eight minute mark.

·        Trailing by 12 just inside of the 10 minute mark, the Chargers began a 12-1 rally that nearly erased the entire deficit as a Jeffries second chance tip-in cut the lead to a single point with five minutes remaining. Sharif-Brown led the way in the run with six of the 12 points.

·        Ninety seconds after the Buccaneers broke that rally up, the Chargers knot the game at 64 again thanks to Sharif-Brown as he connected with Jeffries for a three-pointer which came thanks to a Barry turnover.

·        The Chargers would tie the game at 66 ad 68 before Ugu Nwachukwu converted the second of two free throw attempts with 25 seconds remaining to take a 69-68 lead.

·        After using a timeout, the Buccaneers would convert on a jumper just inside the three point arc with 5.9 second remaining to regain the lead at 70-69.

·        King accepted the inbounds pass and dribbled three quarters of the court to just inside the three point arc where he had a contested look at the hoop with his shot off the front of the rim as time expired.

UP NEXT

Game two of the Mocs Holiday Classic will come on Sunday night when the Chargers continue the two-day event taking on the host Florida Southern with tip-off against the hosts scheduled for 7:30 p.m.