WEST HARTFORD, CT ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team wrapped up its highest conference finish and the second seed in the upcoming America East Championship with a 58-57 victory over regular season champ UMBC on Sunday afternoon at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.
Hartford (16-15 overall, 10-6 America East) ends the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 2002-03 and finishes tied with Albany for second place overall in the conference. The Hawks had never finished higher than third place in 22 previous seasons of conference play. A season-high 2,637 fans turned out to see the Hawks take on the Retrievers, the largest attendance for a men's basketball game at Chase Arena since December 22, 1994 when Hartford drew 3,389 for a contest against Boston College.
The win over UMBC gave Hartford the tiebreak over Albany and earned the Hawks the second seed in next weekend's tournament, which will be held at the Binghamton University Events Center in Vestal, NY. Hartford will take on seventh-seeded New Hampshire on Saturday, March 8 at 6 p.m.
Sophomore Joe Zeglinski led four Hawks in double figures with 13 points and added five assists. Junior Michael Turner recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and junior Warren McLendon and freshman Morgan Sabia added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Covell Johnson led UMBC with a game-high 24 points and added 10 boards and three blocks. Turner and Johnson were named Nestle PurinaONE America East Players of the Game.
Neither team was as hot on offense as in the season's first meeting, when UMBC beat Hartford at the buzzer in an 86-85 final. Hartford shot just 41 percent from the floor but held UMBC to 33-percent shooting, including only 4-of-18 from three-point range. The Hawks also held leading scorer Ray Barbosa (17.1 ppg) to only eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Seniors Rich Baker and Brian Glowiak, who were honored prior to tip-off in a special senior day ceremony, gave Hartford a quick boost in the early moments of the contest. Each made a three-point field goal in the first four minutes as the Hawks opened up a quick 13-7 lead with 16:49 remaining in the half.
Hartford led for the majority of the first half, though UMBC took a momentary lead on a three-pointer by Brian Hodges with 5:21 to go. The Hawks answered behind a trey from Sabia and jumped back ahead 31-29. Hartford led by five when an intentional foul was called; Johnson made a pair of free throws and the ball went back to UMBC for the final possession of the half. The Retrievers ran the clock down and Hodges attempted a three before the buzzer, but McLendon jumped out to block the shot and force a shot clock violation. The Hawks led 36-33 at the break.
Hartford never trailed in the second half but never led by more than eight. The Hawks went up 56-49 on a Zeglinski three-pointer with 2:32 to play, but UMBC responded behind a three-point play in the paint by Johnson to cut the deficit to four. Barbosa then hit his only trey of the day to pull the Retrievers to within a point at 56-55 with 1:20 to go.
After the teams traded misses, Hartford was called for a five-second violation while trying to inbound under UMBC's basket. Barbosa then attempted a go-ahead three but was off the mark, and Zeglinski pulled down the rebound and was fouled. He calmly made both free throws to extend the lead to three with 16 seconds to play.
UMBC cut the deficit to 58-57 on a putback by Darryl Proctor with three seconds remaining. The Retrievers then got the ball back after the Hawks couldn't connect on the inbounds pass. Barbosa tried a three for the win but came up empty, and though Johnson came up with the rebound he had no luck with the putback.
Proctor also finished with a double-double for the Retrievers with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Jay Greene dished out nine assists, though only one came in the second half.
McLendon played 30 minutes and also finished with eight rebounds and four blocks. Von Rosenberg dished out three assists to go over 100 for the season. He and Turner become the first Hartford teammates in the Division I era to record 100-assist seasons.
