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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team got off to a fast start on Sunday, but visiting Stony Brook heated up in the second half and rolled to a 73-50 win at Chase Family Arena. The Hawks snap a two-game win streak with the loss, dipping to 7-11 and 1-2 in America East action while the Seawolves, who had dropped the last two, improve to 10-6 and 2-0 in the league.

Junior Wes Cole drained two of his four shots from downtown in the first half to help the Hawks jump out to double-digit lead early. But Hartford lost momentum leading up to halftime, falling behind by a single point at the break falling victim to a barrage of Stony Brook buckets in the second. Cole finished with 15 points to lead the Hawks and was joined in double figures by classmate Mark Nwakamma who had 11 points.

Fueled by a 6-of-9, second-half effort from Dave Coley, the Seawolves shot 69.2 percent from the floor over the final stanza to fuel their offensive surge. One of four Stony Brook starters to score in double figures, Coley finished with a game-best 20 points, assisting on seven other baskets. Ahmad Walker compiled a double-double for the visitors, adding 10 rebounds to his 10 points.

The Hawks came out of the gates firing, taking a 12-3 lead with 13:19 minutes remaining thanks to a game-opening, 7-0 run. Yolonzo Moore II opened up the scoring for Hartford, going coast-to-coast on a steal, before Corban Wroe knocked-down a three-pointer just 45 seconds later. Nwakamma then came up with another steal for the Hawks on the ensuing possession and went the distance, slamming in a dunk to make it a 7-0 game.

Hartford built upon that advantage as sophomore Taylor Dyson and Cole each converted from downtown before a layup from Nate Sikma, who had nine first-half boards, made it a 10-point margin (20-10) with just over eight minutes left in the first.

The scoring slowed down for the Hawks, though, as they were held to just five points – another three from Cole and a pair of Wroe free throws – in the final eight minutes. Stony Brook capitalized on the drought and strung together two runs, a 7-0 rally followed by an 8-0 spurt, to erase its deficit.

With 1:46 remaining, Jameel Warney, who had 16 points on the night, capped the 8-0 run and put the Seawolves ahead for the first time at 25-23 on a putback. Wroe's free throws would knot up the contest with 73 seconds left until halftime before Eric McAlister made one-of-two freebies to provide the visiting team with a slight 26-25 edge at intermission.

Stony Brook dominated the second half from start to finish, scoring nine-straight points to go up by double-digits (35-25) less than three minutes in to action. The Hawks closed the gap with a 5-0 spurt capped by Cole's third three of the contest, but the Seawolves had an answer as they reeled-off seven unanswered points to push ahead, 42-30, at 14:59.

Another string of Hawk three-pointers from Cole and Evan Cooper trimmed a 13-point, 46-33 deficit down to seven with 11:29 left, however the Seawolves ended that momentum with a trey of its own, this one coming from Chris Braley. After senior Oren Faulk trimmed the Hawks' deficit back down to single digits again, Stony Brook blew its lead open, scoring 24 of the game's final 33 points on 8-for-11 shooting.

Pulling down just four rebounds in the final 20 minutes, Hartford also had difficulty taking care of the ball, committing 11 second-half turnovers to finish with 18 on the night. The Hawks also struggled from the charity stripe, turning in a 53.3 percent (8-for-15) effort.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, January 18 when they head to New Hampshire for a 1 p.m. matchup. Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne will have the call on WCCC 1290 AM and www.wccc.com.