Box Score BANGOR, Maine – Five players registered twin figures in the scoring column, paced by 16 points apiece from sophomores Taylor Dyson and Evan Cooper, as the University of Hartford men's basketball team downed Maine 91-79 Wednesday at the Cross Insurance Center. The Hawks improve to 12-14 overall and 6-4 in conference action while Maine dips to 5-19 with a 3-9 league record.

Burying 13-of-24 shots from long range, Hartford shot a season-high 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field to reach the 90-point mark for the second time this year. Five Hawks shot better than 50.0 percent and a season-best 21 assists were handed out as a balanced scoring attack led the team to its best offensive output all season. Hartford has had five or more players reach double figures in a single game three times this season.

Despite foul trouble, junior Mark Nwakamma scored 15 points while classmates Wes Cole and Nate Sikma added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the Hawks' top-scorers. Nwakamma, who had just two points in the first, picked up his fourth foul with 16:32 left in the game, but still managed to score 11 more from that point on. Chipping in with six points was Corban Wroe, who handed out a game- and career-best six assists to just one turnover in the outing. 

Trailing by as much as five points midway through the opening stanza, Hartford took control and blew the Black Bears away before half was over using a pair of double-digit runs. Momentum began to swing when Sikma, who scored all 10 of his points in the first, netted the first eight of a 10-0 run to push the Hawks ahead, 20-15, with 8:10 on the clock.

Maine trimmed that five-point lead down to a basket, scoring on a Christian Ejiga free throw and a Troy Reid-Knight layup, but the home team wouldn't come any closer for the remainder of the game. A 13-0 run sparked by a Dyson three-pointer with six and a half left quickly put the Black Bears down by 15 points (33-18) with 3:41 to go.

Also contributing to that three-minute run was senior Oren Faulk, who chipped in with all six of his points and capped what proved to be the largest rally of the game with a lay-in under the hoop. In the minutes leading up to intermission, the two teams went back-and-forth as Hartford headed into the locker rooms up by 14 at 43-29.

The Hawks shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the first, a stretch that saw Sikma lead all scorers. The junior went 4-of-4 from the floor, knocking down both of his attempts from three-point territory.

Out of the break, Hartford picked up right where it left off, pulling ahead 58-39 with 12:51 to go thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Dyson. The Hawks were unstoppable from downtown in the final half, hitting 8-of-11 for 72.7-percent.

The lead continued to grow and with nine minutes to go, Hartford built its cushion up to 23 points. Within a two-minute span, Dyson, Wes Cole and Cooper each converted from downtown to give their team their largest advantage of the evening at 69-46. Dyson went 4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep in the second to help the Hawks maintain their margin.

Maine did threaten late, though, as it wheeled-off 11 unanswered points to cut an 84-63 deficit down to 10 points (84-74) with 83 seconds remaining. Converting on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, the Hawks were able to hold off the Black Bears' late comeback bid down the stretch, coming away with the 11-point win.

The Black Bears also shot the rock well, going 56.7 percent in the final stanza to finish at 52.8 percent (28-of-53). Zarko Valjarevic, who was held scoreless in the first, went 4-of-5 from three and 6-of-7 overall to finish with 16 points for the Black Bears while Garet Beal paced the home team with a game-best 18 points.

Completing the series sweep, Hartford has won eight of the last nine against the Black Bears.

Next up for the Hawks is a home date with New Hampshire on Sat., Feb. 15. Tipoff from Chase Family Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.HartfordHawksTickets.com or by calling 860.768.HAWK.