BALTIMORE ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team fell short in its first trip to the America East Championship finals, falling 82-65 to top-seeded UMBC on Saturday afternoon at RAC Arena.
Hartford (18-16 overall) found itself in a hole early in the first half and could never dig out. The Hawks, who trailed by 18 at the break and by 22 early in the second half, fought back to cut the deficit to 10 with 9:00 remaining in the contest. UMBC (24-8 overall) responded with a 10-0 run to get back on track and effectively seal the victory.
Sophomore Joe Zeglinski led three Hawks in double figures with 17 points and was named to the all-championship team. Junior Jaret Von Rosenberg also earned a spot on the team and finished with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds. Classmate Michael Turner scored 16 points and dished out four assists.
Darryl Proctor paced the Retrievers with 23 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Ray Barbosa and Brian Hodges added 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Jay Greene finished with 12 points, eight assists and six boards. Greene was also named the championship's most outstanding player.
UMBC came out white hot to start the game, making 15 of its first 20 attempts from the floor. The Retrievers opened up a 22-point lead behind a 25-2 run. Hartford didn't score for a seven-minute stretch and trailed 28-6 following a Hodges three-pointer with 9:18 remaining in the half.
Greene and Proctor fueled UMBC in the stanza. Greene made his first three attempts from long range to get things going, and Proctor shot 6-of-7 from the floor while piling up 13 points. The Retrievers shot 68 percent for the half, their highest percentage in any half this season, and led 41-23 at intermission.
Proctor and Barbosa opened the second half with back-to-back hoops to push the lead to 22. Hartford then started to bomb away from the outside to make up ground. The Hawks, who made 13 treys in the game, started to whittle away the deficit as Zeglinski, Von Rosenberg and freshman Morgan Sabia heated up from beyond the arc.
Sabia made a pair of three-pointers within a two-minute stretch to cut the margin to 59-46 with 10:11 remaining. The Hawks then pulled down a defensive rebound, and Von Rosenberg pushed the pace and found junior Warren McLendon on a fastbreak for a rim-rattling dunk. UMBC head coach Randy Monroe was forced to take a timeout as the Hawks had grabbed the momentum.
The Retrievers came out of the timeout and went right to Proctor, who buried a jumper to answer the McLendon dunk. Turner responded by taking the ball to the basket and was fouled on a made layup. The ensuing free throw, which made it 61-51 with 9:00 to go, pulled Hartford to as close as it would get in the second half.
UMBC followed with 10 straight points to put the game out of reach. Hodges and Green each buried three-pointers while Proctor added a layup and jumper.
Seniors Rich Baker and Brian Glowiak received a standing ovation from the vocal Hartford cheering section when they came off the floor for the final time. Glowiak tied the school record for most career games played on Saturday with his 118th appearance.
Hartford's 18 wins are the most ever in its Division I history. Head coach Dan Leibovitz took the Hawks to the title game for the first time in school history.
UMBC shot 59 percent for the game while Hartford checked in at 46 percent. The Retrievers also made 9-of-18 from long range and held a 32-20 edge on the glass.
