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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Coming into the game as the top three-point shooting team in the America East, the Hartford men's basketball team saw its percentage take a hit on Wednesday night, knocking down just 4-of-25 from beyond the arc as they fell to first-place Stony Brook, 54-44. The Hawks did not let their off night on offense affect their defense, though, as they held the Seawolves under 40% from the floor.
Junior Morgan Sabia led the Hawks with 12 points. Freshman Charles White, whose defense stymied Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher and who added seven points, five rebounds and two assists, was named the Nestle PurinaONE America East Player of the Game. Chris Martin earned the nod for Stony Brook, tying Muhammed El-Amin for the game high with 16 points.
The night began as a celebration of the most prolific three-point shooter in Hartford history, Joe Zeglinski. The junior from Philadelphia was recognized in a brief pregame ceremony for passing Aaron Cook's career mark of 276 three-pointers in the Hawks' last game, a 64-62 win at Albany last Wednesday. Zeglinski and the Hawks could not get it going against Stony Brook, though, as they fell to 6-16, 4-5 in the America East.
Hartford trailed at the half 26-15 before mounting a second-half rally based on stifling defense which held Stony Brook to just two points over four minutes early in the period. The Hawks cut the deficit to five points on two separate occasions, and once had the ball with a chance to make it a one-possession game, but too many turnovers kept the Hawks from getting any closer.
"Credit Stony Brook," head coach Dan Leibovitz said. "They played great defense on us all night long. That's what has gotten them to the top of the league. I thought we played pretty good defense ourselves, but it just wasn't enough."
Milton Burton, starting his seventh consecutive game at point guard in the absence of Andres Torres, dished out four assists and had a career-high three blocks to go along with five points. Torres, meanwhile, was in uniform on the Hartford bench for the first time since suffering a PCL injury at #3/3 Kentucky on December 29, but did not get into the game.
"Andres is getting close," Leibovitz said of his point guard's recuperation. "He has practiced with the team twice now, and one of those was a full-contact practice where he went most of the time. The doctors have cleared him to play...but I want to make sure he is back at full strength for the tournament in March, so we don't want to rush him back into it."
Junior Anthony Minor started for a second consecutive game and finished with six points got go along with five steals and a team-high six rebounds. Hartford nearly outrebounded Stony Brook, finishing with 35 boards to the Seawolves' 36. Stony Brook came in as the top rebounding team in the conference, while Hartford sat in ninth place.
The Hawks hit the road on Saturday afternoon when they travel to New Hampshire to take on the Wildcats. Hartford defeated New Hampshire, 56-53, last month in West Hartford. The Hawks will be looking for their first sweep of the Wildcats since 2004 and their first conference season sweep since the 2007-08 season. Tip off is set for 4 p.m. All the action can be heard on the flagship station of Hartford men's basketball, WDRC-1360, with Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne at the mics.
