BOX SCORE
WEST HARTFORD, CT - The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped a 62-55 decision against the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday night at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.
Hartford (6-18 overall, 2-8 America East) trailed 32-26 at the half but rallied back to take the lead in the second half. New Hampshire (9-12 overall, 4-5 America East) regained the lead for good with 12:51 to play, though the Hawks kept it close down the stretch.
Hartford senior Michael Turner and UNH's Alvin Abreu were each named Nestle PurinaONE America East Players of the Game. Turner led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and added a team-high seven rebounds. Abreu netted a team-high 20 points and was 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
Neither team led by more than four points for the first 17 minutes of the game. New Hampshire finally opened up a nine-point lead with 1:33 remaining in the half, though Hartford cut the deficit to six in the final seconds. With less than three seconds on the clock, senior Jaret von Rosenberg took an inbounds pass at mid-court and hoisted up a three from just beyond the arc to beat the halftime buzzer. Abreu had 12 points in the stanza as the Wildcats took the six-point lead into the intermission.
Abreu drilled a jumper to start the second half and put New Hampshire up by eight. Hartford answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 34-34. Turner accounted for all eight points during the stretch and made a lay-up, a three pointer and a pair of free throws.
The Wildcats stayed ahead thanks to a jumper by Tyrone Conley, but on the following possession sophomore Morgan Sabia made a three to put the Hawks up 37-36 with 14:45 to play. The lead then changed hands three more times over the next two minutes, with New Hampshire pulling ahead for good at 40-39 on a layup by Radar Onguetou.
The game stayed close the rest of the way. New Hampshire led 54-49 following another bucket by Onguetou with 2:16 to go. Less than a minute later, Turner drove to the hoop and scored as the whistle blew. While the Hawks thought Turner was going to the line for a chance at a three-point play, the referee called a charge and wiped the points off the board. The play-which could have cut the deficit to two-gave the Wildcats the ball back. Abreu was then fouled on the ensuing possession and made both freebies to increase the lead to seven.
New Hampshire closed out the game by going 8-of-10 from the foul line in the final 1:20. Onguetou scored eight of his 16 points at the line as the Wildcats shot 77 percent at the charity stripe. He also added a game-high nine rebounds, three assists and one block on the night.
Hartford shot 37 percent from the floor and 28 percent from three-point range. Sabia added 10 points and five rebounds for the Hawks while von Rosenberg had seven points. Junior David Bookman tied a career high with six points in eight minutes off the bench.
Hartford will next play at Vermont on Monday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m.
