Box Score
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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball team erased an 11-point halftime deficit with dizzying speed on Saturday afternoon, but they could not withstand one final push by the Maine Black Bears as they fell, 77-69. Hartford (5-15, 3-4) led on six different occasions in the second half, but faltered in the game's final minutes as they attempted to take one more lead.
Joe Zeglinski led the team with 18 points. Morgan Sabia scored 16, adding four rebounds, two blocks and two steals to be named the Nestle PurinaONE America East Player of the Game. Gerald McLemore claimed the honor for Maine, knocking down a game-high 27 points thanks in large part to a 7-for-11 day from beyond the arc.
Zeglinski, meanwhile, hit 6-of-13 long bombs and left himself just one three-pointer shy of Aaron Cook's Hartford career record of 276. The junior from Philadelphia has hit at least two threes in 18 of the Hawks' 20 games thus far this season. He will have a chance to claim the record for himself on Wednesday, when Hartford travels to Albany.
Hartford came out strong in the first half, grabbing an early six-point lead and knocking down four of their first eight attempts from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Black Bears were shooting at an even more blistering pace. Maine finished the first half shooting .636 from the floor and an astonishing .692 (9-of-13) from downtown. Nevertheless, Hartford's .429 shooting percentage kept the Hawks within striking distance as they went into the locker rooms down 43-32.
Immediately after the break, Hartford tightened things back up. The Hawks opened the second half on a 14-2 run, grabbing a 46-45 lead when Zeglinski hit a three-pointer from the right wing just 4:19 into the period. Losing the lead seemed to break Maine out of their funk, though, and the teams spend much of the remainder of the period trading buckets and the upper hand on the scoreboard.
During the 14-2 run, Hartford benefited from aggressive offensive play by junior Joel Barkers. Barkers, who finished the game with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, powered his way to six points during the first 2:30 of the half.
Morgan Sabia also ignited the crowd and his teammates, hitting three of the four three-pointers he took after halftime. Adding two free throws, Sabia scored 11 points in the second half and helped keep the offensive clicking. Overall, Hartford hit 7-of-14 three-pointers during the second half.
Hartford benefitted from its bench in the second stanza, particularly freshman Charles White and junior Anthony Minor. White, who opened the game on the bench but started the second period, stifled McLemore and the rest of Maine's sharpshooters, holding the Black Bears to just 11 points over the half's first ten minutes. White finished with four points and four rebounds, including two big offensive boards that extended a Hartford possession and whipped the crowd into a frenzy during the second half, but it was his defense that provided the biggest impact.
Minor, who started the first 13 games of the year for the Hawks, was called upon to spell Barkers midway through the second half and made his presence felt on both ends of the court as well. He drew a charge and played strong on the defensive interior, then drove to the hoop for a dunk that gave the Hawks a two-point lead with 6:24 to play. Minor finished with four points and two steals in 14 minutes in reserve.
In the end, though, the Hawks could not come up with a final answer for Maine, as the Black Bears hit 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal away the victory. Maine (13-6, 5-1) has now won five straight league games and is currently tied with Vermont atop the America East.
Hartford will wrap up its first tour of the conference on Wednesday when they visit Albany. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. with all the action airing on the flagship station of Hartford men's basketball, WDRC-1360. Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne will have the call.
