ORONO, Maine – The University of Hartford men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss on Wednesday night at Alford Arena as a put-back by Justin Edwards with less than one second left to play lifted Maine to a 66-64 triumph in America East action. The Hawks, who entered the game riding a three-game win streak, will look to get back on track Saturday night at Albany when they tip-off from SEFCU Arena at 7:00 p.m.

Hartford falls to 14-11 overall, 7-5 in the America East, while Maine, which has won its last two, moves to 10-15 on the season with a 5-7 mark in league play.

Sophomores Mark Nwakamma and Yolonzo Moore II paced Hartford's offense, combining for 32 points on the evening. Leading Hartford in scoring for the sixth-straight time, Nwakamma tallied 17 points while Moore finished with 14 on 4-of-7 shooting.

It was a tight and nearly even first half as both teams benefited from 50.0% shooting from the field in a stretch that featured ties on six occasions and six lead changes. Hartford ended the half on a 13-5 run and led, 34-30, at the break.

Following the intermission, the lead exchanged hands four more times before Maine started to heat up from long distance. A three-pointer from Nate Sikma, Hartford's third three in as many possessions, put the Hawks ahead by five but a 5-2 Black Bears' spurt brought the gap back to two with 5:02 remaining.

That's when the shots started to fall from downtown for Maine, which struggled earlier in the game, coming up empty on nine of its first 13 attempts from three-point land. Despite shooting the three-ball at 50.0% and finishing with 10 makes on the evening, Hartford became the victim of a stretch of hot-shooting that saw Maine score 12 points, all from behind the arc, over a span of three minutes.

Justin Edwards drained back-to-back triples and Zarko Valijarevic kept the three-pointers falling after delivering two of his own in Maine's next two possessions. During that span, the Hawks could not keep pace, scoring just six points to fall behind by four at 62-58 with 1:23 to go.

Maine extended its lead to five with 57 seconds left on a free throw by Xavier Pollard, but Wes Cole, who missed his only attempt from three early in the half, converted from downtown just nine seconds later, trimming the Hawks' deficit to two.

On the other end, Hartford was whistled for a foul, sending Valijarevic to the charity stripe. He converted on just one-of-two attempts, and on the ensuing possession, Yolonzo Moore II found Cole spotting up from behind the arc.

Cole hit nothing but nylon on that three, tying the contest at 64-all with 27 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, Edwards was off the mark on a three for Maine, but Alasdair Fraser snagged the rebound and forced up a layup. That attempt rimmed out, but just when it seemed time would expire and overtime would be needed to reach an outcome, Edwards tipped in the miss to put Maine ahead by two with less than a second to go.

Hartford called timeout, but came up empty on the desperation Hail Mary play.

Maine, which won the battle of the boards, 32-21, was led by Edwards and Valijarevic, who combined for 35 points scoring 18 and 17, respectively. The 21 boards ties a season-low for the Hawks, who were held to just three rebounds off the offensive glass.

Junior Oren Faulk provided solid minutes of the bench for the Hawks, recording a career-high nine points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-7 mark from the free throw line. Sikma handed out four assists, a team-best, and came up with a game-high five steals.