WEST HARTFORD, CT ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team came up short against the University of Vermont on Wednesday, falling 81-76 at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.
Vermont (11-9 overall, 6-2 America East) outscored Hartford 49-35 in the second half and 17-7 in the final four minutes. Marqus Blakely led the Catamounts with 22 points and added 13 rebounds and four blocks. Hartford (10-13 overall, 4-4 America East) was led by junior Michael Turner, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Blakely and Turner were named Nestle PurinaONE America East Players of the Game.
Hartford led for the majority of the second half and had a 69-64 cushion with under four minutes to play. Vermont grabbed the momentum behind a huge defensive play by Blakely. The Hawks made a steal and were racing for an uncontested layup and a seven-point lead when Blakely caught up to Turner on the break and blocked his layup attempt from behind. The Catamounts raced back up the court and cut the deficit to two on a three-pointer by Kyle Cieplicki.
After junior Jaret Von Rosenberg answered with a layup, Blakely scored on consecutive possessions and tied the game at 71-71 with a dunk. He later gave the Catamounts the lead with a pair of free throws, though Hartford tied the game once again on a layup by freshman Anthony Minor. Vermont took the lead for good at 75-73 on a baseline floater by Trimboli with 37 seconds remaining.
The Catamounts sealed the win from the foul line by hitting 6-of-6 in the final 26 seconds. Blakely and Trimboli combined for Vermont's final 14 points. Trimboli scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half.
In the first half, Hartford broke open a close game with a 9-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers from senior Brian Glowiak and one from Von Rosenberg. The long range assault gave the Hawks a 28-20 lead with 8:01 to play in the half. Vermont responded with six straight points to cut the margin to two, but the Hawks held on and increased the lead to nine at 41-32 by the end of the half.
The Hawks led by as many as 11 points in the second half and were up 10 with 16:32 to go when the Catamounts got back into the game. Trimboli sparked a 14-4 run and made all three of his three-pointers during the stretch, the final one tying the game at 53-53 with 13:06 remaining.
Zeglinski and Von Rosenberg also finished in double figures for the Hawks with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Hartford shot 50 percent from the floor and made 10-of-22 three-pointers, breaking the school record for three-pointers in a single season set by last year's team. Hartford has made 210 treys already this season with eight regular season games to play; last year's team finished with 206 three-pointers in 31 games.
Hartford will next play at Binghamton University on Saturday, February 2 at 2 p.m.
