BOX SCORE
STONY BROOK, NY - The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped a 72-63 final at Stony Brook University on Sunday afternoon at Pritchard Gym.
Hartford (6-15 overall, 2-5 America East) fell behind from the start and trailed 29-18 at the half. The deficit grew to as large as 17 in the second half before the Hawks rallied to get back into the game. Stony Brook (11-9 overall, 3-4 America East), however, fended off Hartford in the final minutes with solid free throw shooting to preserve the win.
Senior Jaret von Rosenberg scored all 21 of his points in the second half to pace Hartford. The Hawks rallied back behind their three-point shooting, going 10-of-24 over the final 20 minutes. Von Rosenberg led the charge with four treys, most of them coming from deep. Freshman Genesis Maciel?the only other Hartford player in double figures with 13 points?made three from beyond the arc in the game.
Bryan Dougher and Demetrius Young each finished with 21 points for Stony Brook, which shot 50 percent for the contest. Young closed out the game by going 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 1:04. Muhammad El-Amin also added 13 points for the Seawolves.
The Hawks went scoreless on their first eight possessions of the game, turning the ball over five times as the Seawolves jumped out to a lead behind two quick threes by Dougher. Maciel got Hartford on the board with a three-pointer at the 14-minute mark, but Stony Brook made it 10-3 before the Hawks scored again on a layup by sophomore Anthony Minor with 12:28 to play.
The Seawolves led by as many as 16 points in the first half, though the Hawks scored seven of the final nine points in the stanza to trail by 11 at the break. Hartford shot 37 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 11 times.
Things got worse in the second half before they got better. Hartford trailed 45-28 with 13:30 to go in the game, its largest deficit of the afternoon. The Hawks responded with a 16-3 run over the next 5:30 to cut the margin to four at 48-44 with 8:00 to play. Von Rosenberg capped the run with a NBA-range three-pointer off a dribble handoff from the wing.
After the teams traded baskets, Stony Brook reeled off the next nine points to pump the lead back to 13 at 59-46 with 3:58 remaining. Hartford, refusing to lay down, came away with three points on each of its next four possessions. Von Rosenberg started things off with an old-fashioned three-point play and followed it by drilling a long three his next time down. Sophomore Morgan Sabia and senior Michael Turner each followed with treys on the next two possessions as the Hawks cut it to 62-58 with 2:19 to play.
Sabia drew a charge on the ensuing Stony Brook possession, and Hartford had a chance to pull even closer. The Hawks got a wide open look for Turner at the top of the key, but his shot was off the mark and the Seawolves pulled down the rebound. Following a pair of free throws from Young, the Hawks then pulled to within three at 64-61 on another von Rosenberg three-pointer.
Young sealed the victory for Stony Brook by making six more free throws over the next 34 seconds. He finished the game without a miss, going 6-of-6 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the line.
Von Rosenberg shot 7-of-12 for the game and added a game-high six assists. Turner finished with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Only seven Hawks saw the floor as sophomore Kevin Estes sat out with a bruised knee.
Hartford will next play at Albany on Wednesday, January 28 at SEFCU Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
