WEST HAVEN, Conn. (January 23, 2018) – University of New Haven men's basketball freshman guard Derrick Rowland played 27 minutes off the bench and scored a game-high 19 points including a 5-of-6 (83.3%) showing from downtown as Franklin Pierce University suffered a 74-63 setback to their Northeast-10 Conference foes Tuesday night at Charger Gymnasium. With the victory, the Chargers move to 11-7, 8-5 NE10 while the loss sends the Ravens to 10-8, 5-8 NE10.

Reigning NE10 Player of the Week Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) led the Ravens with a team-best 16 points on 5-of-10 (50.0%) shooting to go along with seven boards, two assists, two steals and one block. Team captain Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) matched Sandiford with 16 markers as well. Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) added 14 points, three rebounds, one assist, one theft and one stuff while Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) poured in 11 markers. In 16 minutes off the bench, freshman Devonte McCall (Amherst, Mass.) recorded six points, four boards, one assist and one block.

Charger starting guard Danny Upchurch led all regulars with 18 points and a game-best eight assists. Fellow backcourt partner Elijah Bailey chipped in 10 points, four assists and two caroms. New Haven shot a higher percentage (51.9%-to-41.8%), outrebounded (33-to-28), and got more production from the bench (30 points to six points) than the Ravens while also tallying 23 points off Pierce mistakes.

The Ravens started the game with five straight points via a Seck second-chance lay-in and a Lackey left-wing connection from deep. New Haven responded by connecting on two lay-ins to make the score 5-4. The Ravens continued to add onto the score at 9-5 when Sandiford drained a three-ball. With the score 9-7 in favor of the Ravens, Lackey took another three but missed. Sandiford crashed the boards hard, came up with the rock and put the second chance attempt in while being fouled. He missed the free throw as the Crimson and Grey upped the edge to 11-7. A Derrick Rowland right corner catch and shoot three-pointer cut the deficit to one at 11-10.

With the Ravens ahead 14-12, Rowland connected on another shot from downtown this time from the opposite wing to give the hosts a 15-14 advantage. Lackey followed a missed Sam van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) layup, tipped the ball in and McDevitt pulled up from the high post to move the guests up 18-15. Rowland's streaky shooting continued by hitting his third three in the first half to tie the duel at 18 all with 8:09 left.

Following a timeout, New Haven notched five straight points via a Najee Larcher two-handed dunk on the left baseline and a Kessly Felizor hoop and harm. Seck stopped the mini-spurt by draining a three-pointer to make the score 23-21. New Haven upped the advantage to 29-23 until Sandiford converted an and1, which made it a one-possession game at 29-26. On the next trip down the court, Upchurch fired and drained a deep three-pointer from the right wing to answer the old-fashioned three-point play. New Haven looked to increase their lead when Upchurch drove to the rack, but Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) swatted his attempt away which led to a McDevitt two-handed jam to end the first half scoring at 32-28.

On the Ravens first possession of the second stanza, good ball movement around the horn led to Seck burying a wide-open three-ball at the top of the point to cut the Charger lead to one possession. New Haven's advantage grew to six, 39-33 when senior forward Mihailo Vasic dished the ball from the post to Joseph Doganiero who was waiting patiently on the right wing for an easy trey conversion.

McCall pulled the Ravens back within two, 39-37 by converting an uncontested layup and another lay-in while being fouled. He proceeded to miss the free throw. McDevitt tied the duel at 39 all hitting a post shot assisted by McCall. The Raven run continued when Seck drove the lane, was fouled and twisted home a reverse layup for the hoop and harm. Seck knocked down the attempt from the stripe to advance the score to 42-39. McDevitt outlet passed a defensive board to a streaking McCall who slammed down a one-handed jam with his right hand to advance the score to 44-39. New Haven took a timeout and hoped to slow down the Raven 11-0 scoring binge.

New Haven stopped the Raven momentum and took over the game by notching an 18-3 run capped off by a Bailey layup that established a double-digit 57-47 edge. Pierce crawled back to make it a two-possession game when Lackey hung in the air and got a shot to bounce around and in while being fouled. He knocked down the free attempt as FPU trailed 57-52.  New Haven once again pulled ahead by double-figures outscoring the Ravens 9-2 over the next few possession to lead 66-54. Pierce kept on fighting as two Lackey freebies cut the score to 70-63 with 1:02 to go, but the Ravens could not get a stop on the next possession and Rowland iced the game with a layup.

The Ravens remain on the road Saturday when they travel to NE10 foe American International College for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens ), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).