BALTIMORE, Md. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team rallied in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome an early 20-point deficit on Wednesday night as the Hawks fell on the road at UMBC, 70-57, at RAC Arena.

With their second-straight loss, Hartford drops to 3-2 in the America East and 10-8 overall. The Retrievers, who were led by Ryan Cook's 16 points and seven rebounds, improve to 2-3 in league play and 4-14 on the season.

Hartford shot poorly out of the gates which proved to be the difference in the game as UMBC scored the first 20 points of the evening and never looked back. The Hawks, who were held to a season-low 12 points at the half after handing in a 10.3-percent effort from the field, turned things around in the second half. A 23 point gap was quickly trimmed to 12 with just over five minutes to go, but UMBC cashed in at the free throw line down the stretch to prevent Hartford from coming any closer.

After scoring 15 of his 19 points in the second half and sparking the Hawks' comeback attempt, sophomore Yolonzo Moore II was named the America East Player of the Game. Hartford received a game-high 21 points from classmate Mark Nwakamma who reached the 20-point mark for the third time in league play on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. He also led the team in rebounds (7) and steals (4).   

Hartford was ice cold from the floor out of the gates, missing its first 19 shots as a team. UMBC jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage in the first 84 seconds on two-straight buckets by Ryan Cook. The opening rally continued for the home team as they went on to score the next 16 points with back-to-back threes by Brian Neller and Cook pushing the home team's lead to 20 points at the 10:56 mark. 

With 9:13 left before halftime, Nwakamma got the Hawks on the scoreboard for the first time after making one of two shots from the free throw line. It would be another three minutes before Hartford made its first field goal of the game when the forward cleaned up under the rim and slammed in a missed layup at the 6:20 mark, making the score 25-5 in favor of UMBC.

In the minutes leading up to halftime, the Hawks made two more field goals to finish at 10.3-percent (3-of-29) for the stanza. After shooting a scorching 62.5-percent (5-of-8) from behind the arc, UMBC carried a 20-point cushion into the locker rooms with a 32-12 advantage.

The Hawks cut their deficit to 15 points after opening the half with five-straight points but the Retrievers answered with a run of their own. In a span of 30 seconds, Neller pushed his team's lead back over the 20-point mark after delivering two-straight three-pointers before Cook capped UMBC's 8-0 run with a layup, making it 40-17 with 15:15 to go.

The offense continued to pick up for the visiting squad as they converted on 16 of their 31 second-half shot attempts (51.6-percent) and chipped away at their 23-point deficit. After missing the mark on their first two attempts from downtown to start the half, Hartford heated up and made five of its next six to close in on the Retrievers. With 5:16 to go, Nate Sikma drained the Hawks' fifth trey of the period to make it a 12 point game at 60-48.

UMBC would not allow Hartford to come any closer, however, as it cashed in from the free throw line to preserve its double-digit cushion and secure its second win in three games.

Fifteen of the Hawks' points came off of 17 UMBC turnovers. Hartford took care of the ball, turning it over just seven times, but was outrebounded in the game, 40-33.

Hartford returns home on Saturday to host the University at Albany at the Chase Family Arena for a 7:00 p.m. game. Tickets for Saturday's contest, which serves as the team's annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser, are still available and can be purchased by calling the Malcolm and Brenda Berman Athletics Ticket Office at 860-768-HAWK or by visiting HartfordHawksTickets.com.