BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team trailed the University of Central Florida by just four points midway through the final stanza however the Hawks could not hold on down the stretch and fell to the Knights, 67-48, at UCF Arena. The Hawks fall to 0-8 while UCF improves to 5-2.
Mark Nwakamma led the Hawks' attack with a career-high 12 points while Andres Torres added nine with seven assists, a season-best, and four steals. The Knights had three players finish with twin figures in scoring led by Isaiah Sykes who netted 22 and added 11 points to complete the double double. Tristan Spurlock followed suit 10 points and 11 boards.
Hartford recovered an early 21-0 UCF run by outscoring the Knights, 19-4 over the final 13:11 of the opening stanza. On the defensive end, the Hawks clamped down and forced UCF into seven turnovers during that stretch to wipe its 19 point deficit to just six at the half. Foul trouble plagued the visitors early on in the second half as made free throws followed by an 11-0 rally helped the Knights separate themselves from the Hawks.
The Hawks stayed with the Knights through the opening minutes and converted on their first three possessions as Oren Faulk layed in back-to-back buckets and Yolonzo Moore II sank a long jumper to put Hartford ahead at 6-2.
A pair of free throws by Josh Crittle provided UCF with its first advantage of the contest which was pushed to 19 over the next five minutes at 27-8 thanks to eight points by Marcus Jordan and four to Isaiah Sykes' credit. Hartford was plagued with turnovers and had difficulty handling the full court pressure during that stretch as three sloppy passes led to six easy buckets on the Knights' end. The Hawks responded as Torres ended his team's scoring drought with a jumper with 13:11 remaining in the first.
Following a made eight-footer by Rod Days, the Hawks earned two straight defensive stops and Nwakamma sank half of his points, six-straight on three lay-ups, to keep them within striking distance at 27-14. Hartford, which allowed just two UCF field goals during that 13-minute stretch, closed out the half on an 8-0 run and held the Knights off the scoreboard over that five minute span to enter the intermission trailing by six at 31-25.
UCF started the second half cold but converted on free throw attempts to slowly build its lead. Hartford, which fell back to a double digit deficit, cut the lead to four on back-to-back three pointers by Wes Cole. Following the treys, the Knights went on to outscore the Hawks, 9-4, starting at the second half's mid-way point and after Nwakamma fouled out with just over eight minutes to play, they used an 11-0 run to go up 20 at 66-46 and secure the win.
Hartford shot 31.0% for the game (18-of-58) and made just five shots from beyond the arc. UCF, which connected on just three treys, closed out the game shooting 37.5% from the floor (21-of-56)
The Hawks return to the Nutmeg State to host local rival Quinnipiac on Tuesday, December 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK or by visiting www.HartfordHawksTickets.com.
