DURHAM, NH ? Three-point shooting was the difference as the University of New Hampshire handed the University of Hartford men's basketball team a 72-59 loss Thursday night at Lundholm Gymnasium.

The Wildcats (5-11, 2-2 America East) nailed a season-high 14 treys in the contest, including five from Tyrece Gibbs. Gibbs led all scorers with a career-high 21 points while Jermaine Anderson added 15 and Dan McGeary a career-high 13.

Freshman Joe Zeglinski led Hartford (8-7 overall, 2-1 America East) with 16 points while senior Bo Taylor scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Gibbs and Zeglinski were named America East Players of the Game.

A slow start put Hartford in an early hole. The Hawks came up empty on their first six possessions, finally getting on the scoreboard on a Zeglinski layup with 15:36 to play. New Hampshire opened up a 15-2 lead over the first seven minutes and led by as many as 18 points in the stanza, scoring 21 of its first 26 points from behind the three-point arc.

To make matters worse for the Hawks, Taylor spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two quick fouls. He sat for the final 17:40 of the stanza and didn't attempt a shot from the field.

Hartford trailed 36-24 at the break after a frenzied final minute in which a technical foul was called on the Hartford bench and a player from each team was awarded free throws on three-point attempts. The Wildcats shot 46 percent from the floor for the half and 47 percent from three-point range (8-of-17).

The Hawks cut the deficit to single digits with 12:48 to play in the game when Zeglinski scored and was fouled on a layup. His free throw pulled the Hawks to within seven at 49-42. The Wildcats answered with back-to-back scores from Jude Roybal (his only points of the game) to go back up by 14 and never let the lead dip below double digits again.

New Hampshire finished the game shooting 52 percent from the floor and 48 percent from three. Hartford shot 44 percent and hit only 4-of-25 (16 percent) from beyond the arc.

Hartford returns home to face Stony Brook University on Saturday, January 13 at 2 p.m.