Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Returning to the court just 36 hours after tipping off at Florida Gulf Coast, the University of Hartford men's basketball grinded out a 63-53 win over Fairfield at Webster Bank Arena Wednesday night. Paced by 39 points from their front court, the Hawks improve to 1-2 while Fairfield falls to 1-1.

The game was the first of four contests that the Hawks will play as part of the 2013 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament.

Redshirt sophomore Yasin Kolo had a career-high 20 points off the bench while junior Mark Nwakamma netted his second-straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hawks in the triumph. The duo combined to shoot 6-of-7 from long range, where the team shot a blistering 64.3 percent (9-for-14) on the evening.

Building a late first-half lead that would not be relinquished in the second, Hartford shot 52.6 percent over the final 20 minutes to maintain its edge. 

Both teams struggled early to find their groove and offense was at a premium in the first 10 minutes of the game. Hartford came up empty on eight of its first nine possessions, going scoreless until a pair of free throws from junior Corban Wroe ended the three minute drought and put the Hawks on the scoreboard.

Hartford's first field goal didn't come until the 14:17 mark with Kolo's first points, a layup, breaking-up a 2-2 stalemate that went on for almost three minutes. Fairfield also had its share of problems during that opening stretch, missing five of its first six shots from the floor while turning the ball over five times.

Staying alive and keeping pace with the Stags using the free throw line, it took until two minutes beyond the midway point of the opening half for the Hawks to settle in and find their rhythm. Hartford then got hot, turning around an 11.1 percent shooting performance to go 8-for-11 from the floor in the final seven minutes to erase a pair of five-point setbacks and take an advantage into the halftime break.

With the score tied at 7-7, Fairfield put togehter a 6-1 run to grab its biggest lead of the game at five points (13-8) with 8:25 remaining. A free throw followed by a three from Nwakamma quickly cut the deficit down to a single point. Following a Stags' layup, junior Wes Cole tied the game at 15-15 on a three-pointer with less than seven minutes remaining.

Five more unanswered points from the Stags pushed Fairfield's lead back up to five at 2-15, but Hartford's hot shooting from downtown continued. Using two more threes from Nwakamma, the Hawks again made it a one point game at 22-21. One more Fairfield bucket would be scored before a 12-0 run kick started by a Moore layp at the 3:52 mark erased the Hawks' disadvantage and provided the visiting team with a 33-24 lead.

Moore's bucket made it a one-point game before a Kolo three, the first of his career, put Hartford ahead for the first time since the 13:48 mark when it led, 6-4. That spurt, capped by a Nwakamma jumper with 52.4 remaining, provided the Hawks with a nine-point edge, but Fairfield's Steve Smith cut that to six before the end of the half with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

The Hawks picked up where they left off after the intermission. With 11:38 left, a three-pointer from Corban Wroe, who finished the night with nine points, provided Hartford with its first double-digit lead of the game at 50-40. A pair of Kolo free throws extended that advantage to 12, however that lead would be trimmed in half by the Stags on back-to-back treys from Doug Chappell and Lincoln David with 9:41 left on the clock.

Fairfield would not come any closer than six points as the Hawks closed out the contest b scoring 11 of the final 19 points to earn their first win of the 2013-14 season.

Eighteen of Hartford's points came off of Fairfield turnovers. The Hawks shot 45.2 percent overall and went 16-for-22 from the charity stripe for a 72.7 percent clip.

KJ Rose finished with 14 points while Amadou Sidibe grabbed eight rebounds for the Stags who held a narrow 32-31 edge on the boards.

Hartford opens up its home schedule on Friday evening when it welcomes the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights into the Chase Family Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.