Men's Basketball Holds Off Late Rally to Open Season with 92-88 Victory Over New Haven

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - After holding a 10-point lead with 4:30 to go, the Chargers rallied back to get within three points. Jeremiah Dorsey and Farouk Kaba both made their free throws down the stretch to help Thomas Jefferson University (1-0) open their 2024-25 campaign with a 92-88 victory over the University of New Haven (0-1) in the East Region Challenge on Saturday evening action.

WHAT HAPPENED 

• New Haven got ahead 9-4 early on in the match, setting up Jefferson to put on an 8-2 run behind Justin Hawkins and Sean Fullerton shots while Jeremiah Dorsey connected on a three pointer 

• The Rams went ahead 23-16 as Farouk Kaba hit two shots, giving four of his career-high 20 points on the game. Ashton Miller made his basket while Hawkins hit a shot from beyond the arc 

• The Chargers got within two points of Jefferson, but were held off by by Fullerton, Kaba, and Dorsey 

• The Rams went into the half up 40-38, with a .485 shooting percentage on the field in the first half. Dorsey scored 11 of his team-leading and career-high 23 points in the first half 

• Hawkins opened the second half with a three pointer and layup, scoring five of his tying career-high 14 points on the day 

• New Haven got out in front 52-49 with Tristian Jeffries and Seth Sharif-Brown shots while Ugo Nwachkwu nailed a three-pointer 

• Dorsey, Kaba, and Miller all earned points to get the Rams ahead 

• The Chargers got ahead 65-57 after back-to-back shots from beyond the arc by Ethan Simmon and a Sharif-Brown layup 

• Jefferson began to rally that got them going on a 22-4 run, putting them up 79-69 with 4:30 to go. Isaiah Thomas-McClain and Fullerton had a three-pointer during the stretch while Kaba scored eight points on that run. Miller added six into the Rams onslaught as well 

• The Chargers put up eight straight points to trail by two, but Thomas-McClain hit another three-pointer for Jefferson to hold off on New Haven's comeback 

• The Rams used free throws down the stretch to maintain their lead, eventually taking the contest 92-88 and opening the season with a victory 

• Jefferson maintained their shooting in the second half, having a .571 field goal percentage in the second half while going 4-11 (.363%) from beyond the arc and 16-19 (.842%) at the free throw line 

TEAM STATS 
FG: 33-of-63 (52.4%) 
3PT: 7-of-20 (35.0%) 
FT: 19-of-23 (82.6%) 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Jeremiah Dorsey: 23 points (career-high) on 6-of-13 shooting (1-7 3PT), 10-10 FT (career-high) 4 rebounds (career-high), 4 assists (career-high), 3 steals (career-high) 
Farouk Kaba: 20 points (career-high) on 8-of-12 shooting, 4-4 FT (career-high), 8 rebounds (career-high), 3 assists, 3 steals (career-high) 
Ashton Miller: 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting (1-1 3PT), 4-7 FT, 8 rebounds 
Justin Hawkins: 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting (2-2 3PT), 6 rebounds 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson will have a quick turnaround as they continue the East Region Challenge on Sunday, November 10 when they take on host American International College at 2 p.m.