BOX SCORE

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - It was Joe Zeglinski's night at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion, as the senior guard scored a career-high 33 points as he led the Hartford men's basketball team to a 74-65 victory over the Maine Black Bears on Thursday night. The Hawks led by double digits for the majority of the second half as they secured a season sweep of Maine and snapped a four-game losing streak.

Zeglinski, who also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, was named the America East Player of the Game for the Hawks. Gerald McLemore earned the distinction for Maine.

The Hawks shot at a season-best 50.9 percent clip from the field as they ran away and hid from the Black Bears, whom they beat 61-59 in a come-from-behind effort in Orono earlier this season. Hartford knocked down 13 of 29 three-point attempts, including seven by Zeglinski.

The game was the first for senior Morgan Sabia after suffering a left knee injury during the Hawks' loss at Stony Brook on January 29. Sabia, who had an MRI on Monday which revealed his injury was nothing more than a bone bruise, scored seven points, collected five rebounds and added two assists, a block and a steal in 31 minutes on Thursday night.

Hartford and Maine traded baskets early on, with the two teams tied at 12 with 13:06 remaining in the first half. After the Black Bears took a brief 14-12 lead on free throws by Terrance Mitchell, Hartford grabbed control when Ryan Baker nailed one of his two three-pointers of the night with 12:41 on the clock. Baker finished with eight points. The Hawks would not trail again.

The Hawks led 40-29 at the break, matching their highest first-half offensive output of the season. Kevin Estes added two points, three rebounds and an assist for Hartford, while Anthony Minor put up six points, four assists and four boards.

Last month when Hartford opened its America East schedule on the road in Orono, they came from behind to defeat the Black Bears on Maine's home court. There would be no such dramatics on Thursday, as the Hawks led by as many as 17 in the second half before a late rally by Maine cut the final deficit to single digits.

For Zeglinski, the 33-point output marked a career best, outdoing his previous personal high of 31 points. Zeglinski set that most recently at Monmouth on December 11 in a double-overtime loss. Zeglinski scored 19 of his 33 in the first half, and with his seven three-pointers, now has 375 for his career, good for a tie for 16th place on the NCAA all-time career list.

Hartford, now 5-6 in the America East, will return to action on Saturday with its second-to-last road contest of the season. The Hawks visit Boston University, which Hartford defeated 59-55 in a thrilling, come-from-behind victory in West Hartford last month. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. All the action will be carried on the flagship station of Hartford men's basketball, WDRC-1360 AM. Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne have the call.