Men's Basketball fights back, but falls short to New Haven

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - In a tale of two halves, the American International College men's basketball team nearly pulled off the improbable, but came up just short in a 67-66 setback to the University of New Haven in Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday, January 6.

AIC is now 5-8 overall and 3-4 in the NE10.

The game started well for AIC, with Jacob Barnett and Justice Ellison hitting a three and a two, both off passes from Lovre Zaja. However, the 5-0 lead quickly evaporated as the Chargers hit shots from all over the court. Leading 12-11 after an Ellison field goal, New Haven went on an 11-point run. Carlos Hubb broke the stretch with a three, but the Chargers shrugged it off and posted another 13-point run to end the half with a 40-21 lead.

It looked bleak for the Yellow Jackets, but there was no quit in the home team. Ellison and Aguibou Balde opened the half with field goals as part of a 17-2 run over the first 3:59 that featured a three by Buka Peikrishvili and a pair of and-ones by Jalen Jordan, eviscerating the gap to 42-38. Both teams dug in and the scoring came quickly from there, with the Chargers clinging to a lead that stayed between two and seven all the way down to the final two minutes when Kanye Wavezwa sank a three to put the Yellow Jackets within one with 1:04 to go.

The frenetic final minute saw AIC lead for the first time since the very beginning as Zaja hit a layup. The Chargers had an answer, however, with a Tyler Saint Furcy score. AIC had one final look with five seconds to go, but could not get the shot to fall, and the Chargers escaped with the win.

Balde scored a double-double with 17 points and a team-best 10 rebounds, while Ellison notched a team-high 18 points to go with seven boards. Jordan had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Zaja dished out eight assists.

AIC returns to action Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Southern New Hampshire University.