WEST HARTFORD ? Brown University handed the University of Hartford men's basketball team its first home loss of the season on Saturday afternoon by a 79-61 final at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.

Brown (6-4 overall) shot 56 percent for the game and got a career-high 29 points from Chris Skrelja, who shot 11-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Damon Huffman added 20 points and hit six three-pointers while Mark McAndrew also finished in double figures with 16 points.

Hartford (5-8 overall) was led by junior Jaret Von Rosenberg, who was named Nestle PurineONE America East Player of the Game. He finished with 17 points and added a pair of assists. Sophomore Joe Zeglinski and junior Warren McLendon each added 13 points.

The game started with a string of runs, with Brown getting out of the gate quickly with the contest's first 10 points. Hartford answered with 16 straight points to take a 16-10 lead with 11:49 to play in the half. The Bears then countered with a 12-0 run to take back the lead for good. Brown extended the lead to as many as 11 points in the half but took a 38-29 advantage into the locker room at intermission.

The Bears quickly pushed the lead to double digits in the second half and shot 61 percent from the floor in the stanza. Hartford cut the deficit to single digits only once; a three-pointer by Von Rosenberg pulled the Hawks to within nine at 51-42 with 14:56 to go. Brown, however, scored on its next possession and coasted to victory. Skrelja was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in the half and scored 16 of his points over the final 20 minutes.

Brown committed only 12 fouls and 10 turnovers in the game and outrebounded Hartford by a 30-24 margin. The Bears also shot 13-of-15 (87 percent) from the free throw line.

Hartford will have an eight-day layoff before playing its final non-conference road game of the season at the University of Virginia on Sunday, December 30 at 3 p.m.