ITHACA, NY ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team erased a 10-point deficit in the final 3:24 to notch a 63-61 come-from-behind victory over Cornell University on Tuesday night at Newman Arena.
The Hawks outscored the Big Red 13-1 in the final minutes to notch their first road win of the season and improved to 2-3 overall. Cornell dropped to 3-3 overall.
Trailing 60-50 with just over three minutes to go, senior Bo Taylor started the rally with a pair of free throws. The Hawks then forced a turnover after the Big Red inbounded the ball, and sophomore Jaret Von Rosenberg drove the lane and kicked out to a wide-open Rich Baker on the wing for a three-pointer to cut the deficit in half.
Following another Cornell turnover on the ensuing possession, Baker put the Hawks within three with a bucket with 2:36 to play. Hartford then forced a missed shot on the defensive end and collected the rebound for the chance to tie, and sophomore Michael Turner came through with a three-pointer from the corner to knot the score at 60-60.
The Hawks again forced a Cornell miss on the next possession and, after grabbing an offensive board, took the lead on a pretty post move by Taylor to go up 62-60. Taylor then made a key play on the defensive end, fouling CU's Jason Battle and keeping him from making a wide-open layup in the paint. Battle missed the first free throw but made the second to pull the Big Red to within a point.
After Baker was fouled and made one of two from the line, the Big Red had one final possession to either tie or win the game. Cornell brought the ball over half court and called a timeout with 3.7 seconds remaining. Louis Dale took the inbounds pass and went to attempt a three-pointer from the wing, but Von Rosenberg stripped the ball away and ran out the clock.
“I've said all year that my team never gives up, and tonight they showed unbelievable poise and effort,” said head coach Dan Leibovitz. “We got our first win last game, so I told them we needed to get a win on the road tonight. They showed incredible heart all game. I'm very proud of them.”
The first half was closely contested and featured nine ties, five lead changes and a scoring barrage from three freshmen. Ryan Wittman and Dale combined for 26 of Cornell's 30 points in the stanza, and Joe Zeglinski scored 11 points to lead the Hawks. All three players had three three-pointers in the half.
Zeglinski led the Hawks with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting before fouling out with just over four minutes to play. Taylor, who also fouled out with 15 seconds remaining, finished with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Von Rosenberg had four assists and three steals to go along with four points. Wittman led Cornell with a game-high 22 points while Dale finished with 15.
Hartford will next return home to face Long Island University on Thursday, November 30 at 7 p.m. at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.
