BOX SCORE
HAMDEN, Conn. – Morgan Sabia had never scored more than 21 points in a game in his career coming into this season. Two games into the year, he has done it twice. Sabia matched his career high, set Saturday night against Central Connecticut, with 23 points. Joe Zeglinski added 15 and Milton Burton knocked down 12, but it was not enough for the Hawks to pull off the comeback against Quinnipiac on Tuesday evening as they fell, 66-64.
The loss was the second straight two-point defeat to open the season for Hartford (0-2).
Hartford nearly spoiled the home opener for Quinnipiac, which included a pre-game ceremony to raise the Bobcats' 2009-10 Northeast Conference regular season championship banner. The Hawks never led, but had a chance to win the game or send it to overtime when they got the ball back down two with 17 seconds to play. Quinnipiac defended the Hawks' outside shooters well, and Milton Burton's three-pointer with a hand in his face rattled off the back iron as the horn sounded.
The Hawks were down 10 at halftime, 35-25, but quickly cut that in half with a three from Zeglinski and a lay-up from Burton in the first two minutes of the period. Quinnipiac called timeout, but the Hawks were relentless. After the Bobcats pushed the lead back up to double digits, Hartford chipped away until two free throws from Zeglinski made the score 43-40 with 11:19 to play.
Again, Quinnipiac seemed to re-establish control with a 10-2 run that left them up 53-42 with 8:16 to play. It matched the Bobcats' largest lead of the game, but Hartford did not wilt. Sabia, who finished with 17 of his 23 points in the second half, came to life driving to the hoop and finishing lay-ups despite playing with four fouls.
Slowly but surely, Sabia and the Hawks chipped away again. The Bobcats led 59-50 with 5:42 to play, but Sabia scored the next five points to make it a four-point game. After a Quinnipiac lay-up, Zeglinski nailed a jumper and Burton drained a three-pointer. Suddenly, it was a one-point game at 61-60 with just 1:46 remaining.
A James Johnson three-pointer and a free throw from Dave Johnson put the Bobcats back up by five, but Sabia answered with two tough lay-ups, finishing the plays despite heavy pressure from the bigger Bobcat lineup. It was 65-64 with 20 seconds to play before Johnson hit one-of-two free throws with :17 on the clock.
Down two and with foul trouble mounting, Gallagher elected to go for the win. When Zeglinski proved well covered, he dished the ball off to Genesis Maciel, who was also met with a double team and hands in his face. Maciel found Burton on the right wing, but Quinnipiac closed quickly as the clock expired. Burton got the shot off regardless, but it did not go down.
The Hawks showed once again that there is no quit in them, as they went toe-to-toe with the unanimous preseason selection to win the Northeast Conference. Hartford held the 2009-10 NEC Player of the Year Justin Rutty to just 10 points, although he did pull down a game-high 12 rebounds. In the end, Hartford was undone by 13-of-24 shooting from the charity stripe (54.2%). Quinnipiac did not fare much better, shooting 12-of-22 (54.5%).
Having played two strong contests away from home, the Hawks will now open their home schedule on Friday when they host the Dartmouth Big Green. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. from the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Tickets are available by calling 860-768-HAWK or by visiting the Malcolm and Brenda Berman Athletics Box Office at the Reich Family Pavilion. Fans who can't make it can watch live through HartfordHawks.com's All-Access, and can also listen to the flagship station of Hartford men's basketball, WDRC-1360 with Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne.
