WEST HAVEN, Connecticut The American International College men's basketball team hit the road to take on the University of New Haven in a Northeast-10 Conference meeting on Saturday, February 15. The Chargers held off a late AIC push to take the game 72-61.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score:New Haven 72, AIC 61
Record:AIC moves to 8-17 (5-11 NE10), while New Haven moves to 11-12 (9-8NE10)
Location:Charger Gymnasium West Haven, Connecticut

STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Logan Santiago: 15 points, six rebounds
Zekiah Owens: 14 points, eight rebounds
Bane Terzic: 11 points, four rebounds, four assists

New Haven:
Kessly Felizor: 22 points, 10 rebounds
Elijah Bailey: 14 points, five rebounds
Quashawn Lane: 11 points, five rebounds
Derick Rowland: 11 points

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The home team defended their court by playing lockdown defense in the first four minutes of the game and charging out to a 9-0 run when AIC head coach Andy Burkholder called a thirty-second timeout and yanked a pair of starters. Two possessions later, senior guard Logan Santiago drained a deep ball in transition to put the Yellow Jackets on the board.
• After forcing a turnover, classmate Zekiah Owens swished a paint jumper to bring it to a four-point game. The Chargers missed a three at the end of the shot clock that allowed redshirt sophomore Bane Terzic to nail a three nine seconds later. Junior guard Shyhiem Hicks got aggressive in the passing lane, stole the pass and found Santiago in transition for the fast break dunk that gave AIC the 10-9 lead and forced a Charger timeout.
• The teams traded baskets for the next eight minutes, but the Chargers closed-out the half with a 10-2 run to take the 34-24 lead into the locker room.
• Terzic opened the second frame with a triple to bring the home lead to under double-digits, but the Chargers answered with a pair of layups on the other end. The rhythm of the second half was mostly small alternating runs.
• AIC trailed 43-31 when Owens scored six straight AIC points while the Yellow Jackets held New Haven to three points during his run. The Chargers answered Owens' run with four points of their own.
• Down 13, AIC started to heat up. Terzic started the run with a three off a pass from Santiago. Freshman Jalen Jordan turned his body downhill and drew the driving shooting foul where he hit one-of-two.
• Santiago was leaking out on a missed shot by the home team when senior forward Trevaun Hyatt found him off the rebound for the fast break jumper in the paint to make it a seven-point game. With 6:31 remaining, senior Goree Venable-Gonzalez knocked down a pair at the charity stripe and made it a two possession game. New Haven used four free throws and a three-pointer on their next three possession to rebuild their double-digit lead. Junior guard Jordan Vidal hit a couple of free throws with under two minutes remaining in the game, but it was not enough as the home team went seven-for-eight from the line in the last two minutes of play.

UP NEXT:

• The Yellow Jackets round out their 2019-20 home season with a game against Le Moyne College on Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates on the men's basketball team, follow@AIC_MBBonTwitterandInstagram. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.