Box Score
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Freshman Charles White scored a career high 12 points and junior Joe Zeglinski led the way with 22, but the Hawks fell in their conference opener at Stony Brook, 70-59. Hartford, which led 23-20 at the half, was done in by a 9:13 scoreless stretch to open the second half and could not claw its way back into the game after that.
Zeglinski, who added a team-best seven rebounds, was named the Nestle PurinaONE America East Player of the Game along with Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher, who scored a game-high 26 points.
Both offenses started slow, with Hartford falling down 14-8 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. From there, though, the Hartford defense clamped down even harder, and Stony Brook did not score again for over 5:30. That allowed the Hawks to scratch and claw their way back even, as a fallaway, NBA-range three pointer from Joe Zeglinski tied the score at 14.
Hartford took its first lead of the game with 4:10 remaining in the opening period when Joel Barkers dropped in a reverse layup to give the Hawks a 19-18 advantage. Barkers' bucket came in the midst of a 7-0 run that put Hartford up, 21-20.
The Hawks held a 23-20 lead at the half, with Zeglinski's seven first-half points leading the way.
Despite continued defensive pressure in the second half, the lid went over the basket for the Hawks. Hartford did not score in the stanza until Zeglinski nailed two free throws with 10:47 remaining. The freebies cut Stony Brook's lead to 37-25. Thirty seconds later, Zeglinski hit the first field goal of the half when his third three-pointer of the day pulled Hartford to within eleven, 39-28.
In the closing minutes, the Hawks came alive, with White slashing to the basket and Zeglinski and Morgan Sabia hitting threes to keep hope alive. But it was too little, too late for Hartford, which dropped its first conference opener in head coach Dan Leibovitz's tenure.
Making his second consecutive start, junior Kevin Estes finished with four points and a rebound in 20 minutes. Junior Joel Barkers added eight points and made his presence felt down low with five rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench. Freshman Ross Erickson saw a career high in playing time for a second straight contest, giving Coach Leibovitz 29 solid minutes in reserve.
Hartford returns home for the first time in 2010 on Saturday, when they take on Boston University at 2 p.m. The game can be heard on the flagship station of Hartford basketball, WDRC-1360.
