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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team managed to hold on to its halftime lead down the stretch and claim a 62-60 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats on Sunday afternoon at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks finish up their two game homestand on Wednesday when they welcome the Maine Black Bears into West Hartford.
Three players notched double digit scoring to help lead Hartford (6-19 overall) to its second-straight win and improve to 6-7 in the America East. Senior Andres Torres missed just one shot in seven attempts en route to his team-best 17 points while rookies Yolonzo Moore II and Mark Nwakamma rounded out the Hawks' top scorers with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Classmate Nate Sikma was just one point and one board shy of recording his first collegiate double double. His nine rebounds was a game-high.
Hartford's offense was sparked by its defense early on as it forced Binghamton into five turnovers which translated into nearly half of the Hawks' first 15 points of the game. Hartford led 15-9 at the 11:49 mark and went on to break open a 22-18 game with five consecutive points by Moore to go up by nine, its largest lead of the half.
Cold shooting plagued the Hawks in the final minutes of the half however as they were held without a field goal leading up to the intermission, a span of more than four minutes. Moore provided the Hawks' lone points during that stretch on a pair of free throws to provide the halftime margin, a 29-23 lead for the home team.
The Hawks, who led by as much as 14 in the final stanza, held an 11 point edge over the Bearcats with 1:59 remaining. That advantage, however, nearly evaporated as Binghamton surged for a 13-4 run in the closing minutes to whittle the score down to a single basket in the final seconds of regulation.
At that 1:59 mark, Nwakamma gave the Hawks their sixth double digit cushion by making it an 11 point game at 58-47 before Binghamton started to storm back with a pair of lay-ups on back-to-back possessions by Jabrille Williams and Robert Mansell.
Moore answered for the Hawks when he slashed to the hoop and scored to put his team up by nine with 48 seconds to go. The Bearcats continued to respond though as Ben Dickinson cut his team's deficit to seven points at 60-53 and after Torres came up empty on the front end of a one-and-one, Mansell would make it a five point game with 20 seconds left.
With a pair of made free throws by Mansell, Binghamton managed to make it a one possession contest for the first time since the 14:08 mark of the opening period however Torres went on to re-extend the Hawks' lead to five at 62-57 after cashing in on two from the charity stripe with just eight seconds left on the clock.
After going the length of the court out of the inbounds, Williams attempted a long three which was front rimmed, but Jimmy Gray snagged the rebound, dribbled it out behind the arc, and buried a trey to put the Bearcats just two points away from the Hawks with two seconds left.
Following a Bearcats' timeout, Torres received the inbounds pass with 1.2 on the clock but threw the ball up the air, allowing time to expire, to secure the win.
Mansell finished with a game-best 18 points while Javon Ralling added 15 to lead Binghamton (0-24, 0-12 AE).
The Hawks' upcoming conference clash with the Black Bears will air live on ESPN3 with tip-off from Chase Arena set for 7:00 p.m.
