Cole Pours in 26 Points in Hawks' 79-76 Loss to Niagara

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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Freshman Wes Cole drained a career-high 26 points, including 23 in the second half as part of the Hawks' late scoring surge, but it was not enough for the University of Hartford men's basketball team to recover from a 17-point deficit in the second half as the Hawks suffered a narrow 79-76 defeat by Niagara University on Saturday evening at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.

The Hawks drop to 0-10 on the season while Niagara moves to 4-6 overall.

A season-high four players reached twin figures for the Hawks, led by Cole's game-high and senior Andres Torres who contributed 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and four treys. Cole poured in eight from behind the arc, one shy of matching a program record set by Joe Zeglinski against New Hampshire on Feb. 17, 2008.

Rookies Mark Nwakamma and Nate Sikma rounded out the top scorers and provided a strong presence in the post for Hartford with 11 points apiece. Hartford finished the game with season-highs in field goal percentage (50.0-percent) and three-point percentage (48.4-percent) while the 15 made three's also marks a season-best output.

It was a tale of two halves for the Hawks on Saturday night. After turning the ball over 14 times in the first stanza and going flat with troubled shooting and rebounding on the defensive side, Hartford turned things around in the second half. During that final stretch, the Hawks limited turnovers to just five and got hot from the floor with 48.4-percent shooting (15-of-31), including 57.9-percent from downtown (11-of-19), to come within striking reach of the Purple Eagles.

After keeping pace with Niagara in the first six minutes, the Purple Eagles used a 10-2 run to pull ahead by seven with 12:44 remaining and went on to extend that advantage to 13 at 31-18 at the 7:05 mark. Poor decision making by the Hawks and second chance opportunities for the Purple Eagles allowed the visitors to build its lead to 16 with just over five minutes remaining in the first.

Hartford chipped away at its deficit and held its opponents to just one field goal while scoring six of its own to enter the halftime intermission trailing by 12 at 36-24.

Niagara did more damage out of the break as it pushed its advantage to 17 at 49-32 with just under 15 minutes remaining. Hartford never let up and continued to battle from behind as Cole went off for eight unanswered points, including back-to-back three's, to trim the Hawks' deficit to single digits for the first time since midway through the first half at 51-43 with 11:04 to play.

The Purple Eagles regained a double digit lead with 3:52 remaining before Cole and Torres drained back-to-back treys to bring the Hawks within five, the closest they had been since the five minutes into the contest.

Hartford scored four points in a minute and had possession after a missed free throw with 29 seconds left before Niagara came away with a steal and was fouled on the play. Niagara converted on the ensuing free throws and went 7-for-8 in the closing seconds to hold off the Hawks, who hit three three-pointers in the final seconds including one at the buzzer by Yolonzo Moore II.

Three players reached double figures for Niagara led by 25 points from Juan'ya Green and 20 from Marvin Jordan. Antoine Mason added 14 points.

Hartford breaks for final exams and will return to the court on Wed., Dec. 21 at Marist, its second-straight opponent from the MAAC. First tip between the Hawks and Red Foxes is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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