WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Mark Nwakamma and Nate Sikma, a pair of freshmen forwards, combined for more than half of the University of Hartford men's basketball team's scoring on Wednesday evening to lead the Hawks to their third-straight win with a 64-50 romp of the visiting Maine Black Bears. Hartford (7-19 overall) has now won five in a row over Maine (11-14, 5-9 AE) and with the win, evens its record in league play to 7-7.

Sikma buried four from downtown in the first half to finish with a game-best 20 points while Nwakamma contributed 14 tallies. Classmate Yolonzo Moore II grabbed six rebounds, a career-high, in the victory while senior Andres Torres dished out eight assists.

Hartford controlled the tempo out of the opening tip and despite being held scoreless over the final 4:48 of the first half, still managed to carry a comfortable 13 point cushion (30-17) into the intermission.

Prior to that drought, Hartford connected on 52.4 percent (11-of-21) of its attempts while holding Maine to a clip of 25.0 percent (6-of-24) in the first stanza. The Hawks would close out the half shooting 37.9 percent and finished the game just above the 45 percent mark.

Out of the intermission, the Hawks continued to run away with the game, opening with a 5-0 run on a trey by Torres and a put-back by Nwakamma to push ahead by 18 with 18:28 left on the clock. Hartford took its largest lead of 19 at the 11:50 mark when Nwakamma converted on two-straight from the charity stripe to make it a 44-25 game.

Maine managed to trim its deficit to 12 points on four occasions, but never threatened to make a significant run in the game, allowing the Hawks to cruise to its 14 point victory and match its longest win streak of the year at three.

The Hawks committed just nine turnovers on the evening, while forcing its counterparts into 17.

Xavier Pollard was the only Black Bear to finish in double figures. He scored 10 points, six of which came from the free throw line. Mike Allison added nine points and pulled down nine rebounds.

The Hawks take a quick break from league play when they take a 130-mile trek to Jersey City, N.J. on Saturday to meet Saint Peter's College in their Sears BracketBusters game. The 2:00 p.m. showdown will mark the seventh time that the Hawks meet the Peacocks in their 27-year Division history. Hartford and Saint Peter's have not faced each other since the 1997-98 campaign.