THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 80, Sacred Heart 71
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 1,822 
RECORDS: Sacred Heart (1-8), Hartford (4-8)

PHOTO GALLERY

THE LEAD:
Pancake Thomas netted his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, as the Hartford men's basketball team held off a late second-half rally by Sacred Heart to pull out an 80-71 win over the Pioneers on Monday night. Justin Graham added 13 points, Taylor Dyson posted 11 and J.R. Lynch netted 12 in the victory on Red Out Night.

Cane Broome and Jordan Allen each scored 15 points for Sacred Heart, who shot 44 percent from the field in the loss. Dyson returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's game, and that proved to be huge for the Hawks, with the senior giving the team an 11-point boost in 20 minutes of play. Dougal Weir tied a career-high with six points and Graham added three assists and three steals in the victory.

FIRST HALF:
Early on, the two teams felt each other out, with the Pioneers holding a 6-4 lead and Weir scoring the first four Hawks points. But then a Graham three stole away the momentum and sent the Hawks on an 11-0 run, with Dyson knocking down a pair of triples in the rally.
 
After Sacred Heart scored five straight points to make it 15-11 in favor of Hartford, the Hawks defense locked down, holding the Pioneers without a field goal for a span of 8:17 and forcing the visitors into eight turnovers. During that period, the Hawks run was 17-5, including a stretch where the Hawks got three layups in a span of 31 seconds, the latter two both off turnovers.
 
With the Hawks ahead 32-19 in the closing minute, Thomas finished off the half with a three-ball from the right wing to send the Hawks to the locker room up 16, the largest halftime lead of the season.

SECOND HALF:
Sacred Heart halted the Hawks momentum out of the locker room, hitting a three to start things and slowly chipping away at the Hartford lead, cutting it down to just nine points at 43-34. But the Hawks answered with a 10-0 run to get the lead back to 19. Thomas drilled a three during the rally and Dyson delivered a three-point play, but the finishing touch was the most memorable, as TreVaughn Wilkerson delivered his first career basket with a slam off a feed from Graham that made it 53-34.
 
The Hawks were able to push the lead all the way to 20 at 62-42, with a three-ball from J.R. Lynch at 8:47 the final blow. But Sacred Heart refused to quit, and turned up the press to mount a rally. The Pioneers strung together a 19-3 run, the final blow a three from long range by Cane Broome that made it just 65-61 with 4:17 to play. Graham snapped the rally with a basket, and the Hawks pushed the lead up to 68-61, but the Pioneers delivered consecutive buckets to cut the lead to three at 68-65.
 
In need of a basket, Hartford got a key from their freshman, as Lynch buried a three at the shot-clock buzzer to make it 71-65. The Pioneers countered with consecutive baskets to make it a two-point game, but then Thomas delivered the dagger, draining a triple as the shot clock expired to push the advantage to 74-69.
 
That proved to be the key blow, as the Pioneers couldn't convert from the field and the Hawks closed out the game at the free-throw line.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• From the 10:22 mark to the 2:05 mark of the first half, the Hawks held SHU to 0-for-8 from the field with 8 turnovers.
 
• The Hawks again led the way tonight on fast-break points, outpacing the Pioneers with a 10-4 mark, and won the points off turnovers battle, 25-12. This marks three-straight games that Hartford has beaten the opposition in transition, with the Hawks also outdoing Holy Cross and Quinnipiac.
 
• Hartford got out to a blistering start on the defensive end, racking up eight steals in an overpowering defensive stand in the first half. Justin Graham led all Hawks with three swipes.
 
• Pancake Thomas stuffed the stat sheet for Hartford tonight, scoring 17 points and pulling down 10 boards. Thomas also dished out four assists and added a steal.

UP NEXT:
Hartford will return to Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion for a morning matchup against Widener at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 22, for Educational Day. Area elementary school students will attend the game while also learning about everything the University of Hartford has to offer. Tickets are available by calling 860-768-HAWK or online at HartfordHawks.com.