WALTHAM, Mass. – With 23 second half points, redshirt sophomore Ethan Simmon (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) sparked the New Haven men's basketball team to an 87-80 road victory against Northeast-10 Conference rival Bentley on Sunday afternoon at the Dana Center. With the win, New Haven evens its overall record at 7-7 on the season and 3-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Simmon led all scorers in the game, and three Chargers in double figures, as he added two more points to close out the game with 25 total as he closed out the afternoon shooting 10-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the three point arc. In the second half alone, Simmon made all but one of his 10 field goal attempts, including going a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Joining Simmon in leading the Blue and Gold was sophomore Jah'Likai King (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) who finished with 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half, and freshman Najimi George (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) who closed out the game with an even dozen. George led the trio from the floor as he connected on 5-of-7 overall, with a three pointer, while King went 7-of-12 from the field, with a three pointer, and finished 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

As a team, New Haven finished the game shooting 67.3 percent from the field, connecting on 33-of-49 field goal attempts, with eight of the 33 buckets from long range. The Chargers also capitalized at the free throw line where the finished 13-of-15 combined. Along with Simmon's 9-of-10 second half effort, the Chargers combined to go 17-of-23 in the final 20 minutes of action, a 73.9 percent performance, while going 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from beyond the arc.  

Bentley did win the battle of the boards with a 30-18 margin as three Chargers all led the way with three rebounds apiece, King, Tristian Jeffries (Hillside, N.J./Saint Thomas Aquinas) and Ugo Nwachukwu (Imo State, Nigeria/Springfield Commonwealth Academy).

FIRST HALF NOTES

·        Bentley opened up the scoring on its opening possession and maintained that lead through the first 10 minutes of the game. During that opening stretch, the Falcons extended their lead to as much as eight which came on back-to-back possessions just over the five minute mark.

·        Facing the second eight minute deficit, which came with 14 minutes to play, New Haven rattled off eight straight points to even the score at 18. Geoge opened up that run with a three pointer and added another two points which cut the deficit to three.

·        The Blue and Gold would knot the score again at 20 before taking their first lead of the game on a floating jumper from Seth Sharif-Brown (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) and extended that lead to three on a layup from Morse.

·        The Falcons responded to those back-to-back buckets with a three pointer to knot the game at 24, the first three points of a seven point rally as they regained the lead and held onto that advantage for the remainder of the half.

·        Just like earlier in the half, Bentley opened up its lead to as much as eight before New Haven put the final points on the board before the intermission with a layup from Kyle Kearson (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) that put the margin at 40-34.

SECOND HALF NOTES

·        Bentley once again opened up the period scoring first, regaining an eight point lead, before the Chargers flipped the script and the lead for the third time with a 9-0 run that was capped off with a King three pointer and a 43-42 lead. That three was part of seven points in the run for King.

·        Over the next three minutes, the teams would trade baskets and leads with the sixth lead change in favor of Bentley and was part of a 7-0 run that led to a 55-50 lead for the Falcons.

·        New Haven answered that deficit rattling off eight unanswered, beginning with back-to-back threes from Kearson and Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass./Matignon), to flip the lead for the final time.

·        Bentley managed to tie the score twice more in the final 10 minutes at both 60 and 62 before the Chargers took the lead for good with six-straight, all of which came from Simmon.

·        Simmon would continue to hit from outside the arc, sinking two more from long range, both of which pushed the New Haven lead to eight.

·        Bentley was able to cut its deficit to as little as three down the stretch while New Haven opened up as must as a nine point lead which came with just 16 seconds remaining.

·        The Falcons were able to hold New Haven to just one field goal in the final four minutes, however the Blue and Gold secured the win at the line, going a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 46 seconds. Jeffries would go 4-of-4 in that stretch and King added the other two.

UP NEXT

New Haven will return to the friendly confines of the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletics Center when they next take the court, welcoming the Saint Anselm Hawks to West Haven for a Wednesday, January 8, night doubleheader. Opening tip off for the men's team is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with all of the action available live on NE10 Now on Flo College.