BOX SCORE
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team could not get things going on Wednesday at Pritchard Gymnasium as it set a season-low for points in a 60-37 loss at Stony Brook. The contest wraps up Hartford's first tour of the America East this season with the Hawks sitting at .500, 4-4 in the league. With their eighth-straight triumph over the Hawks (4-16), the Seawolves shift to a tie for first place with the Boston University Terriers at 7-1.
A team that pours in just over six three's per outing, Stony Brook (12-7) was hot from outside as it nearly matched that average in the first half with five from downtown, three of which came off of the hot hand of Bryan Dougher. Stony Brook would finish the game with nine treys on 50.0-percent shooting from behind the arc.
The Seawolves contained the Hawks' perimeter game, holding them to just three on the evening on 15.0-percent shooting (3-of-20).
Neither team shot well in the beginning of the game as it took almost three minutes before the scoreboard lit up for the first time. The Seawolves drew blood first as Dougher freed up from 21-feet out. Hartford came up empty on its first five shot attempts before Andres Torres sank the first bucket when he was hit on a back door cut with 14:27 remaining.
Hartford hung around and stayed within four points of its opponents before a four minute scoreless drought coupled with a 7-0 run by Stony Brook helped the Seawolves build a double digit edge for the first time at 19-8 at the 6:12 mark.
Facing a 12 point disadvantage at 22-10 with just over five minutes to go, sophomore Oren Faulk came off of the bench and sparked the offense, closing the gap to eight to keep the Hawks within striking distance. The sophomore netted a pair of buckets while Yolonzo Moore II added two points from the charity stripe to help trim that deficit to single digits.
A trey by Torres – the Hawks' first of the evening – with just over two minutes left in the half followed by a Faulk free throw in the final 65 seconds sent the game into the intermission with Stony Brook on top by six at 24-18.
Hartford would get no closer in the second half as Stony Brook opened the period with back-to-back three's from Dougher. Although Maciel would score eight 10 of his team's first 14 points to open the stanza, including a long three that cut the gap to 10, the Hawks were not able to build any momentum as Stony Brook continued to answer on the on their offensive end.
An 11-0 rally would provide the Seawolves' with a 25 point advantage, their largest of the game, at 57-32 with 5:49 remaining on the game clock.
Maciel and Faulk, a pair of bigs off of the bench, were sparks for the Hawks, providing 10 and seven points, respectively. Faulk's seven points matched a career-high set earlier this season at UCF. Torres and rookie Mark Nwakamma also added seven to lead Hartford's scoring.
Dougher, the only Stony Brook player to reach double figures, finished with a game-best 23 points, including 5-of-9 from three point land.
Hartford opens the second half of its America East schedule on Saturday, hosting Albany at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion at 4:00 p.m. Tickets for the conference clash, which is part of the Hawks' annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser, are still available and can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK or by visiting the Malcolm and Brenda Berman Athletics Box Office at the Reich Family Pavilion.
