PROVIDENCE, RI ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped a 95-82 final at Brown University on Friday afternoon at Pizzitola Sports Center.
Brown shot 62 percent for the game and made 16 three-pointers to improve to 4-7 overall. The Bears also made 33-of-36 (92 percent) from the free throw line. Hartford dropped to 6-5 overall.
Senior Bo Taylor led four Hawks in double figures with 19 points and added six rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Freshman Joe Zeglinski finished with 18 points while sophomores Jaret Von Rosenberg and Michael Turner chipped in with 16 and 12, respectively. Turner also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Brown's Mark McAndrew led all scorers with a career-high 30 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. He also shot 6-of-10 from three-point range. Damon Huffman (22 points), Nathan Eads (13) and Scott Friske (11) also finished in double figures for the Bears.
Brown took control of the game right from the tip, using pressure defense and white-hot shooting to lead by as many as 21 in the half. The Bears hit 10 of their first 13 shots from the floor, the first eight coming from three-point range. McAndrew led the aerial attack with five treys en route to 19 points in the stanza.
On the defensive end, Brown pressured Hartford's guards well above the three-point line and disrupted the flow of the offense. The Hawks committed nine first-half turnovers and didn't find their rhythm until the final seven minutes of the half. Hartford closed with a 9-2 run to trail 38-24 at the break.
Taylor and Von Rosenberg carried the Hawks in the first five minutes of the second half. Taylor got Hartford rolling with two quick baskets before Von Rosenberg took over the scoring duties, dropping in the next 11 points over a three-minute span to cut the deficit to single digits at 48-39 with 15:02 to go.
The Bears answered with a 14-2 run to end any hope of a comeback. Hartford would get as close as 10 points late in the game but never really threatened again.
Brown finished with only seven two-point field goals in the contest and shot 21 more free throws. Hartford owned the rebounding edge at 31-25.
Hartford will take a break for the holiday before hosting Canisius College on Friday, December 29 at 1 p.m. at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.
