Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball team dropped its season opener on Friday evening, falling to Quinnipiac 86-74 in the finale of the inaugural Connecticut 6 Classic at the Arena at Harbor Yard. In his first game with the Hawks, junior Joel Barkers led the team with 23 points and seven rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Connecticut 6 Classic squad.

In a game that tipped off at 10:19 p.m., the Hawks jumped out to an early 16-10 lead. Junior Morgan Sabia scored five quick points, and junior Anthony Minor added six in the early going.

Hartford found early success pounding the ball inside to its big men. The Hawks earned their way into the double bonus midway through the first stanza and would go 16-for-21 from the charity stripe by halftime. Barkers tallied eight of his 14 first-half points from the free throw line. By the break, six Bobcats had at least two fouls.

A hot shooting streak from Quinnipiac had them poised to take a four-point lead into the break, but junior Joe Zeglinski launched a 40-footer that banked in as time expired to pull the Hawks within one at 43-42. Zeglinski finished with 12 points.

As in the first half, the Hawks got off to a quick start in the second. Junior Andres Torres slashed to the basket, weaving his way to five quick points. He would finish the game with seven.

In the second half, it was Quinnipiac drawing Hartford fouls and making the most of its free throws. The Bobcats finished 21-of-34 from the line as Minor, Zeglinski and sophomore Clayton Brothers fouled out. In the end, the Hawks had no answer for the hot-shooting Bobcats, who hit at a .518 clip for the game.

"We came out with the goal of putting together 40 solid minutes, and we weren't able to do that," head coach Dan Leibovitz said. "We didn't play the kind of defense that we're going to need to play this season."

Hartford is back in action on Sunday when they travel to Waco, Texas to take on Baylor. The Bears were 86-58 winners over Norfolk State in their opener Friday night.