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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Junior guard Yolonzo Moore II led the University of Hartford men's basketball team in scoring for the second-straight game, but his 19 points weren't enough as the Hawks fell at neighboring rival Central Connecticut, 73-59, on Wednesday. Hartford falls to 3-8 while the Blue Devils improve their record to 3-6.

Hartford led by five early, using a Wes Cole jumper at 12:17 to take a 13-8 edge over the Blue Devils. Seeing that lead dissipate down to one point on back-to-back Central Connecticut buckets, junior Nate Sikma knocked down his second three-pointer of the night to push the Hawks' edge back to four with 10:17 minutes left.

That Sikma triple would be Hartford's last field goal for quite some time as the Blue Devils reeled-off a series of rallies to build an eventual double-digit advantage before the intermission. An 8-0 spurt over the next five minutes would put Central Connecticut ahead for the first time at 20-16 with 5:54 remaining.

With 5:02 left in the opening stanza, Cole got fouled from three-point range and converted on the ensuing three free throws to end Hartford's scoring drought and close the gap to 20-19. That deficit would be quickly extended up to eight, though, as the Blue Devils scored seven more unanswered points within a 47 second span to go ahead, 27-19, at the 3:15 mark.

Hartford showed life down the stretch, ending a nine minute field goal dry spell with an Oren Faulk layup and making it four unanswered points on a pair of Moore free throws. That momentum wouldn't be enough for the Hawks to close out the stanza as Central Connecticut  used another rally to take a 39-27 lead before the half ended. A deep three at the buzzer from De'Angelo Speech capped that Blue Devils' 8-0 run and provided the home team with a 12-point margin at the break.

Central Connecticut came out of the break firing as it opened up a 16-point advantage within the first five minutes, scoring nine of the first 14 points of the stanza to take what was then its largest lead. The Hawks refused to go down without a fight, though, as they brought their deficit down to 10 on two occasions with Cole's second three-pointer of the half making it a 53-43 contest with 10:49 left.

Using five more unanswered points on a Moore layup and a Nwakamma three from the top of the key to avenge a Matt Hunter putback, Hartford chipped its deficit down to seven points with 8:18 on the clock before Central Connecticut pulled away for good, building an 18-point advantage with 2:58 left by outscoring the Hawks, 15-4, over the next five minutes.

Malcolm McMillan led four Blue Devils in double figures with 15 points while Faronte Drakefor and Kyle Vinales each added 14 points.

After turning in one of their best shooting efforts from the floor on Saturday against Holy Cross, the Hawks struggled to convert as they connected on just 34.8 percent of their shots. The Blue Devils were consistent throughout the game, shooting 53.1 percent in the first and finishing the night at a 52.6 percent clip.

Hartford returns to action on Sunday when it heads to Sacred Heart for a 2 p.m. matchup.