Box Score THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 69, Widener 46
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 2,308
RECORDS:  Hartford (5-8), Widener (4-6)
 
THE LEAD:
Evan Cooper shined as his 17 points off the bench sparked the Hartford men's basketball team to a 69-46 win over Widener in front of 2,308 fans on Hawk Nation Education Day. Over 1,700 area students attended the game as part of an educational field trip to the University. Jalen Ross dealt out seven assists and added five points in the affair, while Justin Graham added 11 points and Pancake Thomas posted nine in the victory on Tuesday afternoon.

Sardayah Sambo scored 13 points in a game-high 32 minutes for Widener, which shot 36 percent from the field in the loss. George Blagojevic returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with an injury, with the freshman chipping in a three pointer and two boards in 16 minutes of play. J.R. Lynch was active on both sides of the ball, scoring eight points, dishing out four assists and swiping three steals.

FIRST HALF:
The Hawks never trailed in the game, scoring the first basket on a Thomas three and never looking back en route to the 23-point victory. Hartford jumped out to a quick lead thanks to a sizzling start shooting the three. Graham and Thomas drilled two shots each to get the offense going, and then Jack Hobbs capped off a 16-6 run to start the game with back-to-back layups. Widener never came within less than seven after the run, as Hartford seized control early on in the contest.
 
The hot shooting from the perimeter continued throughout the opening half, as the Hawks seemingly punched back after ever Widener basket. Taylor Dyson drilled a three at the 11:02 mark to answer just the fourth Pride basket in the opening nine minutes. Hartford's aggressive ball pressure forced poor decisions by Widener, which held them scoreless for another three minutes before David Nicholson hit a three for the Pride.
 
Jack Hobbs rocked the arena with a powerful dunk in the post to increase the lead to 15 at the 8:08 mark, on a dish from Ross. With the Hawks ahead 32-26 in the closing minute, Cooper laid it in off the backboard with an acrobatic finish to give Hartford a 34-26 advantage. The Hawks added a point at the free-throw line, as Graham scored a game-high nine points in the first half to give the Hawks a 35-26 edge.
The Hawks forced 15 turnovers and turned them into 17 points, including six on the fast break in a strong opening-half performance. Hartford moved the ball impressively as well, scoring all 13 field goals off 13 assists.

SECOND HALF:
The Hawks wasted no time out of the locker room, with Lynch and Blagojevic hitting threes on back-to-back possessions to start the half to boost the lead back up to 15. The Pride again went cold over a long stretch, scoring just eight points in the first 11 minutes to open up the second act. A jumper by Pride guard Nick Jackson finally ended a dominating 24-6 run by the Hawks at the 8:19 mark.
 
The lead would balloon to as high as 30 with 8:45 to go, thanks to the hot hand of Cooper. After scoring two points in the first, the guard caught fire and hit four threes in the second half, the last of which put Hartford up 62-32 en route to a comfortable victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Hartford assisted on 21-of-24 made field goals, good for a season high in assists. Jalen Ross led the way with seven, six coming in the first half. The last time the Hawks had over 20 assists in a game was last season when they dealt 24 assists against Holy Cross.

• Points off turnovers told the story of today's game for the Hawks, as they scored 29 points off of 25 Widener giveaways. The 25 turns for Hartford smashes the previous high of 21 turnovers surrendered by Quinnipiac earlier this season.
 
• Hartford got a huge boost from guard Evan Cooper, whose streaky shooting took off in the second half to the tune of four three pointers. Cooper finished with 17 points (15 in the second half), three rebounds and two steals.
 
• The home squad swept up 13 steals in the game, which also marked a season high, topping the 12 steals logged against Quinnipiac.
UP NEXT:
Hartford will take a holiday break before heading out to Lawrenceville, N.J. to take on Rider University on Dec. 30.