Box Score LOWELL, Mass. – Four Hawks landed in double figures in the scoring column on Wednesday as the Hartford men's basketball team scored a 75-68 win at UMass Lowell at the Costello Athletic Center. Extending their win streak to a season-best four games, the Hawks level their overall record to .500 for the first time all season at 14-14 overall while improving their mark in America East contests to 8-5.

Leading the offense was junior Mark Nwakamma, who went 5-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to finish with 16 points. Hartford shot 57.4 percent (27-of-47) overall, putting the River Hawks away by shooting 68.4 percent (13-of-19) in the second half. Registering assists on all but two of their buckets, the Hawks set a season-high in the category, surpassing the quarter century mark for the first time since the 1997 season.

Handing out five assists, sophomore Evan Cooper finished with 13 points on the night while senior Oren Faulk went a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor for 12 points. Junior Nate Sikma rounded out the double-digit scorers, recording 10 points and adding four assists.

UMass Lowell (8-18, 6-8 AE) led for the first five minutes until Hartford exploded for a 12-2 run, scoring all of its points from three-point territory, to take a 17-11 lead. Junior Wes Cole, who dished out a career-high five assists, drilled a trey to spark the rally that gave the Hawks an advantage they would never relinquish. Also contributing threes during that spurt was Taylor Dyson, who went back-to-back from long range, and Sikma.

The lead remained in the hands of the Hawks, however, the River Hawks kept things close before the end of the opening half. With 6:46 left, Hartford saw its 21-16 edge come down to a single point after Akeem Williams, who went on to lead all scorers with 18 points, fueled a 6-2 UMass Lowell spurt with a pair of triples.

Hartford would counter before the break and regained control, scoring 11 of the final 14 points of the half to take a nine-point lead into the locker rooms. Faulk scored four of his points during that run while Yolonzo Moore II converted on a steal in the back court to provide the halftime margin of 34-25, marking the Hawks' largest advantage of the stanza.

After the break, UMass Lowell came out of the gates hot, scoring the first six points to come within three with 17:28 to go. Seventeen seconds later, Moore pushed his team's advantage back to six points at 37-31 with a three-pointer, but foul trouble and second chance points allowed the River Hawks to linger. During the second half, UMass Lowell had nine second-half offensive rebounds, scoring 15 points off those boards.

With Sikma and Nwakamma picking up their third fouls in the first four minutes of the second, It remained a one possession game until the Hawks wheeled-off nine unanswered points to go up by double digits for the first time all night (50-39) with just over 11 minutes left.

Hartford maintained its cushion for the majority of the half, providing an answer each time UMass Lowell made a dent in its deficit. Down the stretch, however, the River Hawks made things interesting, cutting the Hawks' lead to three points twice in the final minute.

With 90 seconds to go, Chad Holley scored four-straight points on a layup and a pair of free throws to bring the River Hawks within four at 69-65. On the next possession, Moore made the front end of two freebies before Williams pulled UMass Lowell within three on a bucket with 29.2 seconds on the clock.

Re-extending the lead to four on a Nwakamma free throw, Holley again made it a one possession game after making 1-of-2 from the line. The home team's attempt at a comeback would come to a halt thanks to Cooper, as he turned UMass Lowell's back court pressure into a layup on the other end to make the score 73-68 with 18.5 seconds to go. The game was iced after the Hawks forced a River Hawks' turnover at midcourt and Dyson sank a pair of free throws.

Hartford completed its third season series sweep of the season, having defeated UMass Lowell last month at home, 69-51. 

The Hawks play their final road game of the regular season on Sunday at Vermont. Tip-off from Patrick Gymnasium is scheduled for 2 p.m. Fans who can't make the trip to Burlington can catch all of the action on ESPN3 or over the air waves with Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne on the call on WCCC 1290AM (wccc.com).