BOX SCORE
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped its fourth-straight on Wednesday evening at Lundholm Gymnasium as the New Hampshire Wildcats shot over 50.0 percent from three-point range in the second half to come from behind and squeeze out a 52-51 victory. The Hawks fall to 4-6 in the America East while New Hampshire moves to 3-7 in the league.
Rookie Mark Nwakamma notched a career-high 18 points while Alvin Abreu led all scorers with 20 points. Abreu shot 4-of-5 from downtown in the second half, including the go-ahead trey, to power the Wildcats' comeback. The duo were named the America East Player of the Game.
After falling behind early at 10-6, the Hawks got things moving as buckets by Andres Torres and Nwakamma, who combined for the team's first 10 points, sparked a 10-2 run that would provide a four point lead at 16-12 with 6:59 to go.
The Wildcats did not waste any time and answered with six-straight of their own to regain a two-point lead with 2:28 remaining. Snapping the Hawks' five minute scoring drought would be rookie Wes Cole who swished in the first three-pointer of the night but Garrett Jones was quick to retaliate on the other end when he netted a trey of his own to put New Hampshire back ahead, 21-19.
Both teams swapped points again to close out the half with the Wildcats on top, 23-21. New Hampshire, which finished 8-of-21 as a team from three-point land, was just 1-of-8 in the opening stanza. The Hawks and Wildcats finished even in nearly every first half statistic as both teams committed seven turnovers and each squad shot at a 38 percent clip. New Hampshire held the slight edge on the boards at 15-13.
New Hampshire scored first out of the break but Hartford's two made free throws followed by back-to-back three's by Nate Sikma and Clayton Brothers sparked an eventual 12-0 streak that would erase the deficit and provide the visitors with a 33-25 advantage with 15:43 to play in the game. It was the Hawks' largest lead of the night.
The Wildcats heated up and battled back, however, as a 14-0 run, including 12 points from beyond the arc, would build the home team's lead back up to four with 11:01 on the game clock.
The Hawks didn't go down without a fight and never let the deficit reach more than four points. After knotting up the game at 44-44 with 4:09 remaining, and again tying the score for the ninth time at 46-all, Yolonzo Moore II buried a three-pointer from the far corner with 1:47 to go to push Hartford ahead by three.
Down on the other end, however, New Hampshire continued its hot shooting from downtown as Patrick Konan leveled the score and Abreu capitalized on Hartford's empty possession with another trey to put the Wildcats up by three at the 28 second mark.
Following a missed lay-up by Torres, Chandler Rhoads came up empty on the front end of a one-and-one. After grabbing the board and getting fouled, Torres hit 2-of-2 from the line to make it a one point game at 52-51 with just five seconds remaining, which forced Hartford to foul. Abreu missed the front end of his one-and-one, however a last-second attempt from six feet beyond the arc rattled off of the back of the rim.
Cole finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor. Torres dished out four assists and recorded four steals to add to eight points. With 287 career helpers, he now sits at fifth all-time in Hartford's record books.
Hartford continues with the second of its three-game road stretch when it travels up I-91 to take on the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. Fans who are unable to make the trip to Burlington can tune-in to WDRC 1360 AM to follow all of the action from Patrick Gymnasium.
