PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.  – The University of Hartford men's basketball team overcame a late, second-half deficit of six points and topped visiting UMass Lowell in overtime in a 68-62 thriller on Saturday night at the Chase Family Arena. Picking up their third-straight win, the Hawks (10-7) improve to 3-1 in America East action while the River Hawks (9-9) drop to 3-2 in the league.

Three Hawks finished in double figures, led by senior Mark Nwakamma, who recorded his second double-double in three games. Pulling down 11 rebounds, the forward shot 7-of-11 from the floor, making his lone three point attempt while going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for a game-best 20 points. Sophomore Justin Graham recorded a career-high 13 points, knocking down the game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, while senior Corban Wroe added 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds.

Holding on to a 33-24 halftime lead until midway through the second half, Hartford, which led by as many as nine in the first half, saw its 39-34 edge disappear thanks to a 9-0 UMass Lowell run. With 2:56 left, the Hawks trailed the River Hawks, 54-48, but erased that deficit by scoring six-unanswered points to end regulation in a 54-54 deadlock. Steals on back-to-back defensive possessions helped spark that run that featured a fast break layup from Wroe and Graham's game-tying three.

In overtime, Hartford came out hot, putting up the first two buckets to go up, 58-84, on back-to-back layups from senior Yolonzo Moore II and Nwakamma. The River Hawks answered with a pair of Jahad Thomas free throws, but the Hawks used a 6-0 spurt, sparked by a Wes Cole three-pointer at the 1:21 mark, to take a 64-56 lead over the visiting squad.

UMass Lowell had three players put up double-figures in scoring, led by a 16-point effort from Jahad Thomas. Matt Harris added 14 points, 13 of which came in the second stanza to help the River Hawks man their comeback.

The Hawks have a short turnaround for their next game as they return to action on Monday afternoon (1 p.m.) at UMBC.

THE TURNING POINT:
Giving up a 33-24 halftime lead thanks to a poor shooting performance to start the second-half, the Hawks rallied back from six-behind with just under three minutes remaining to force overtime against the visiting River Hawks. With 2:56 left to play in regulation, the Hawks trailed the River Hawks, 54-48, but ended the second stanza by rattling off six unanswered points to tie things up before the horn sounded.

Senior Mark Nwakamma started the rally by making 1-of-2 free throws with 1:29 left before classmate Wes Cole came up with a huge steal out of the Hawks' full court pressure, a play that triggered a fast break bucket from veteran Corban Wroe. Following another steal from Hartford's defense, the Hawks came up short on two shots – a three by Yolonzo Moore II and a missed layup from Nwakamma – before sophomore Justin Graham came up with the game-tying bucket on a three-pointer with 25.5 seconds on the clock.

In its final possession, UMass Lowell's Jahad Thomas came up short on a jumper with two seconds remaining, forcing overtime. Hartford dominated the extra period, jumping out to a 58-54 advantage with 2:28 left on layups from Moore and Nwakamma. From there, the Hawks scored 10 of the final 18 points of the period, using a 6-0 spurt to provide a six-point edge of 64-56 with 41.4 seconds left to play.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

·         With 15:50 left to play in the first, Hartford wheeled off a 7-0 run to go up 12-6 with 14:29 remaining. Building that lead to as many as nine points in the final minutes of the half, the Hawks would hold on to their advantage until the 8:25 mark of the second half.

·         Hartford led, 39-34, with 9:58 left in the second stanza before the River Hawks rallied for nine-unanswered points, a rally that featured five points from Matt Harris. Harris's three with 8:54 left tied the game at 39-39 before his jumper less than 30 seconds left gave the River Hawks their first advantage since the beginning of the first.

·         UMass Lowell held on to its lead until the final seconds of regulation. With the River Hawks leading, 54-48, at the 2:56 mark, senior Mark Nwakamma made 1-of-2 free throws before the Hawks came up with steals on back-to-back defensive possessions. The first allowed senior Corban Wroe to close the gap to three (54-51) on a layup before the latter, which came from Wroe, turned into the game-tying three-pointer from Justin Graham with 25.5 seconds left.

·         Scoring the first four points of overtime, Hartford went on to outscore UMass Lowell, 14-8, in the extra period to seal the win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

·         Hartford dominated the overtime period, outscoring UMass Lowell 14-8 while scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the extra time

·         In overtime, the Hawks shot 3-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-2 from three, while making 7-of-10 from the charity stripe to seal the game

·         Both teams shot around 40%, with Hartford going 41.4-percent from the floor (23-of-56) and UMass Lowell shooting 39.7-percent (23-of-58)

·         Hartford scored 21 points off of 19 UMass Lowell turnovers, with two of those turnovers in the final 1:29 of regulation translating into the final five points of regulation

·         The Hawks held a slight edge on the boards at 36-35 led by 11 rebounds from senior Mark Nwakamma and nine from classmate Corban Wroe 

NEWS AND NOTES: 

·         Hartford scored its third-straight victory on Saturday night after wheeling off its third-consecutive victory over UMass Lowell

·         With the win, the Hawks improve to 3-0 over UMass Lowell while posting the program's second-best start to conference play with a 3-1 mark

·         With 20 points and 11 rebounds, senior Mark Nwakamma led the Hawks in scoring for the fifth-straight game and rebounding for the sixth-straight game, putting together his second double-double in three contests

·         Nwakamma has put up double-figures in scoring in each of the last 10 games

·         Sophomore Justin Graham added 13 points, a career-high, including the game-tying three-pointer with 25.5 seconds left in regulation

·         Also finishing in double figures for Hartford was senior Corban Wroe, who tallied 11 points while matching a career-high in rebounding with nine

·         Hartford is 2-0 with its current starting lineup of Moore, sophomore Taylor Dyson, Wroe, freshman John Carroll and Nwakamma

·         Scoring the Hawks' first bucket in overtime, senior guard Yolonzo Moore II is six points away from becoming the second current Hartford player to reach 1,000 points

·         Saturday's game marked Hartford's first overtime contest of the year; in the last two seasons, the Hawks are 2-0 when needing extra time

·         At home, the Hawks are 6-2 this season and have won their last three 

UP NEXT:
The Hawks wrap up a busy stretch featuring three games in six days with a trip to Baltimore to face UMBC on Marthin Luther King Jr., Day. Monday's tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. from RAC Arena. Fans who can't head out to Maryland can catch all of the action on the airwaves (WDRC 1360 AM) or online (www.talkofconnecticut.com) as Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne have the call.