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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team came out strong in the first half, but could not put together a complete game on Tuesday as it fell, 74-50, to the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves on Senior Night. The Hawks wrap up their regular season on the road at Boston University at Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. tip from Case Gym.
Stony Brook shot 61.9 percent on the game, including a blistering second half clip of 78.9 percent, to take control of first place with a mark of 13-2 in the America East (19-8 overall). Hartford drops to 8-20 overall with the loss and 7-8 in the league.
Veteran Genesis Maciel sparked the Hawks' offense in the first half providing 12 points, all on three-pointers, to keep the home team within striking distance at the intermission.
Hartford started out hot from behind the arc and connected on three of its first five attempts to take a 10-8 advantage over the Seawolves with 15:10 to go. Stony Brook's Eric McAlister evened the game up with a dunk however Andres Torres helped the Hawks regain the lead on the next play by converting on a pair of free throws.
Cold shooting would then haunt the Hawks as they missed their next five shots, allowing the Seawolves to go off for 10 unanswered points which turned into a 15-2 run. That stretch provided Stony Brook with its largest advantage of the stanza at 25-14 with 7:32 to go.
The Hawks made a comeback however and used a flurry of three-pointers to lead the charge. Maciel buried three of four of those bombs over a span of seven minutes, including one with just under 60 seconds to go that cut Hartford's deficit to a single point. Dallis Joyner would make a lay-up in the final possession of the half to send Stony Brook into the locker room with a 31-28 advantage.
Stony Brook drilled a three out of the break to go up by six but Yolonzo Moore II responded with one of his own before the Seawolves went on an 18-4 rally to extend their lead to 46-35.
Hartford managed to get as close as 12 points with 10:06 left as it was a 53-41 game, but Stony Brook took off for a 17-0 run while holding the Hawks scoreless for more than seven minutes to put the game out of reach. A layup by Dallis Joyner provided his team with their largest edge of 29 points at 70-41 with 4:03 left on the game clock.
The Hawks shot just 30.8 percent for the game and only 29.6 percent in the second half. Inside of the three-point line, Hartford converted on only five field goals.
Tommy Benton, who finished perfect from the field at 4-of-4, notched a double-double for the Seawolves with 11 points and 12 boards while Bryan Dougher scored a game-best 17 points.
Hartford was outrebounded, 35-19, but committed just seven turnovers while forcing Stony Brook into nine.
Prior to the start of the game, Hartford's four seniors were honored in a special ceremony. Clayton Brothers, Maciel, Andres Torres and Charles White played their final regular season game at Chase Arena.
