BOX SCORE

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball team won its third straight game by defeating the Albany Great Danes in their home conference opener on Sunday, 62-42. Hartford never trailed, and led by double figures the entire second half thanks to a strong all-around defensive effort.

Milton Burton led the Hawks with 17 points, and was named the America East Player of the Game along with Albany's Logan Aronhalt. Genesis Maciel tied his season high with 12 points, while Joe Zeglinski added 10.

Hartford starts 2-0 in the America East, the first time they have done so since the 2007-08 season, when they reached the championship game. The Hawks also are enjoying their first three-game winning streak since March 2-9 of that season.

Burton and the Hawks came out on fire, as the senior from Birmingham, Alabama nailed his first three three-point attempts to help the Hawks to an early 11-4 lead. The Hawks would extend the lead to 16-7 when Morgan Sabia knocked down a trey, but Albany fought back to push within a point at 16-15.

With Burton on the bench with two quick fouls, it was Maciel's turn to power the Hawks' offense. After a Zeglinski three-pointer pushed Hartford's lead back to four, Maciel knocked in the next seven points, finishing two lay-ups and draining a three-pointer from the top of the key. Hartford led 26-15, and Albany coach Will Brown was forced to use a timeout.

With Albany threatening to at least keep things close going into intermission, Hartford once again came up with two big outside shots. First, sophomore Ryan Baker buried a three from the corner to stretch the Hawks' lead back to 10 at 31-21. Then, after a Ross Erickson steal, Genesis Maciel closed the half by sinking yet another three-pointer, giving the Hawks a 34-21 halftime advantage.

Although Albany had a 9-0 run midway through the second half which shrank the Hawks' lead from 19 to 10, the game was never truly in doubt after the half. Hartford played stifling defense, perhaps its best defensive effort of the season. The Hawks forced 17 Great Dane turnovers while committing just six - a season low - themselves. Hartford shot just 38.3 percent from the field (33.3 percent from downtown), but held Albany to a 34.8 percentage, and under 30 percent from three-point range.

The game was the 119th for senior Joe Zeglinski since he came to campus for the 2006-07 season. That sets a new school record, breaking a tie with Wayne McClinton, Ryan Stys and current Hartford Director of Basketball Operations Brian Glowiak. All 119 games for Zeglinski have been starts. With his 10 points, Zeglinski moved past Justin Bailey for second on the Hawks' all-time Division I scoring list. He is now fourth in the all-time history of the program, behind just Peter Egan (1971-75), Mark Noon (1975-79) and Vin Baker (1989-93). Zeglinski now has 1,792 points, just 63 behind Egan. Baker's all-time record is 2,238.

Hartford will get back to work on Tuesday when they begin a two-game road trip with a trip to New Hampshire. The Wildcats will be in search of their first conference victory of the season, starting the year 0-3. Hartford will be in search of its first 3-0 start in the league since 2002-03. Fans can catch all the action on the flagship station of Hartford men's basketball, WDRC-1360 AM. Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne have the call.