LAKELAND, Fla. – Coming off the bench, senior guard Seth Sharif-Brown (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) scored a game-high and season-best 28 points to lead the New Haven men's basketball team as the Chargers closed out the Mocs Holiday Classic with a 90-84 loss to the host Florida Southern on Sunday night. With the decision, New Haven closes out he calendar year with a 6-6 overall record.

Sharif-Brown's team-high 28 points was one of two players to finished with 20+ in the scoring column as he was joined by Ugo Nwachukwu (Imo State, Nigeria/Springfield Commonwealth Academy) who also came off the bench to finish with 21 points. The pair combined with Javel Cherry (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) to rack up 55 total bench points for the Blue and Gold.

The two leading scorers combined to shoot 16-of-23 from the field with Nwachukwu leading the duo connecting on 7-of-10 overall, including a pair of three pointers, and finished 5-of-8 at the free throw line. Sharif-Brown's season-high came on 9-of-13 shooting with a team-best three from beyond the arc and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. The pair also combined for 11 of the Chargers 31 rebounds as the two teams finished in a deadlock in the rebounding battle.

Rounding out the New Haven leaders in the scoring column was a single starter in double figures, Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) who finished with 11 points while leading the team with three steals.

As a team, the Chargers finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field, connecting on 28-of-59 field goal attempts. Included in the 28 buckets were 10 from long range while the Chargers took advantage of 22 trips to the line scoring 18 of those. The Chargers best shooting came in the opening half with a 57.1 percent effort with seven of their 16 total field goals (16-of-28) coming from outside the arc.

FIRST HALF NOTES

·        Florida Southern came out of the gates to score the first four points of the game with Najimi George (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) the first to put the Chargers on the board with a second chance tip-in after collecting the rebound on his first attempt.

·        The Mocs would keep their early scoring going as they opened up an eight point, 15-7, lead just ahead of the five minute mark before Jeffries broke up the home teams momentum with a three pointer at the 14:57 mark.

·        After Florida Southern extended its lead back to seven, the Chargers would net back-to-back buckets, a three from Cherry and a fast break bucket from Jeffries, to pull within a pair at 17-15.

·        Florida Southern would keep the pressure on as they would answer with back-to-back baskets of their own to reopen a six point lead, however the Chargers answered by scoring 10 of the next 15 points to knot the score at 25 at the midway point of the half. Nwachukwu would score the final two points in that run with the game-tying bucket off an assist from Sharif-Brown.

·        The Mocs quickly responded with back-to-back baskets in the next 36 seconds before Sharif-Brown cut the deficit back to a single point with a three pointer.

·        After trading buckets over the next six minutes, the Mocs began a rally at the three minute mark that would lead to a six point lead before New Haven closed out the half with eight of the final 10 points to knot the score at 42 going into the intermission.

·        The momentum going into the halftime break was further propelled by a buzzer beater from Nwachukwu who turned a steal into a buzzer-beating three pointer.

·        Sharif-Brown led the Chargers in the opening half as he had the hottest hand of the frame going a perfect 5-of-5 in 10:30 of action off the bench. Included were three from beyond the arc while he was also 2-of-2 at the line.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·        After surrendering the opening bucket on an and-one to open the half, the Chargers stepped up the offense with an 8-0 run that flipped the lead as Jeffries completed an and-one of his own to take a 50-45 lead just over two minutes in.

·        After the Mocs answered with five straight to tie the score at 50, Simmon struck from beyond the arc and followed that with a layup for the first five points in an 7-0 run.

·        New Haven maintained that lead for much of the second half, building it up to as much as 10 using another run, this time around a 6-0 rally as Nwachukwu went 2-of-2 at the line to extend the lead to the Chargers largest of the game.

·        Florida Southern responded by scoring nine straight to cut its deficit back to a single digit before Nwachukwu broke that momentum with another trip to the line.

·        The Chargers were able to push their lead back to three before the Mocs extended their streak by scoring another five unanswered to flip the score back in their favor for what would amount to be the final lead change of the night.

·        New Haven managed to tie the game at 80 and pull back within a point with 1:21 remaining, however the Mocs defense would hold the Chargers scoreless in their final three attempts as they closed out the game on a 6-0 rally.

UP NEXT

Following a break for the holiday's, New Haven will return to the court after ringing in the New Year when they return to Northeast-10 Conference play welcoming the Adelphi Panthers to the Hazell Athletics Center on Thursday, January 2. Opening tip in the conference clash is set for 7:30 p.m., following the women's game, with all of the action available live on NE10 NOW on Flo College.