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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Defense ruled the day at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, but it couldn't rule Joe Zeglinski. With buckets hard to come by for either side, the junior from Philadelphia stepped up and scored 21 points in the second half to push the Hartford men's basketball team past New Hampshire, 56-53.
Zeglinski finished with 26 points overall, adding six rebounds as he was named the Nestle PurinaONE America East Player of the Game. Alvin Abreu earned the distinction for New Hampshire, knocking down 19 points.
Facing the conference's top defensive squad, the Hawks were shut down in the first half, trailing at the break, 24-19. Fortunately for head coach Dan Leibovitz's team, Hartford was equally as impressive on the defensive end, and put together one of their best defensive efforts of the season.
"We challenged the guys at halftime," Leibovitz remarked after the win. "Joe really carried us through that stretch where the shots weren't falling. I'm very happy for the guys. That's a good win. New Hampshire is going to win a lot of games in this league with their defense, and we stopped them. That's a good stepping stone for our team."
Down 33-26 with just under 12 minutes to play and seemingly unable to buy a bucket, the Hawks turned to Zeglinski. With hands in his face both times, the junior stepped back and knocked down NBA-range three-pointers, pulling Hartford to within a point. A minute later, a Kevin Estes lay-up tied the score at 34.
Hartford took its first lead with 7:33 to play when Zeglinski sunk two free throws, putting the Hawks up, 40-39. Although New Hampshire would pull back even at 44-44, the Hawks never trailed again.
Hartford benefited from a persistent rebounding effort, led by Morgan Sabia, who tied a career high with 11 boards. The Hawks, who have struggled on the glass during the early part of the season, won the second-half rebounding battle 21-15. In particular, Hartford was able to corral two key offensive rebounds with under three minutes to play, finishing the possession with a Milton Burton jumper. The bucket extended Hartford's lead to five and put New Hampshire in a precarious position with time running low.
Burton, who started and ran the point for a second consecutive game, finished with nine points and seven rebounds to go along with three assists. He has nine helpers against just three turnovers over the past two contests.
"Milton played well," Leibovitz said. "He brings some good poise to us. I'm impressed with the way he's handled the ball, and he just looks comfortable out there."
Although Burton only had one turnover on the day, the Hawks were sloppy with the basketball from the jump, committing turnovers on their first two possessions and eight in the first 11:30 of the game. From there, though, they tightened things up. Coming into play with the fewest giveaways in the conference, the Hawks committed just four turnovers over the last 28:30 of play, only three in the second half.
A phsycial game in the early going took its toll on the Hawks when starting forward Joel Barkers had to head to the bench with two early fouls. Stepping up to replace him was junior Kevin Estes, who shined in the reserve role. Estes finished with a season-high 11 points and a career-high six rebounds while shutting down Wildcat big man Dane DiLiegro. DiLiegro, who averages over 11 points per game for New Hampshire, finished just 1-of-9 from the floor, hitting 5-of-10 free throws to finish with seven points.
In putting together back-to-back wins, Hartford has shown an ability to convert when it gets to the free throw line. After sinking 18-of-21 from the charity stripe at UMBC on Thursday, the Hawks knocked down 10-of-11 on Saturday afternoon. New Hampshire could not keep up with that percentage, converting just 13-of-24. Joe Zeglinski was 4-for-4 for the Hawks, while Estes finished 3-for-3.
