THE BASICS:

RESULT: Rider 82, Hartford 80 (2OT)
LOCATION: Alumni Gymnasium (Lawrenceville, N.J.)
ATTENDANCE: 1,520
RECORDS:  Hartford (5-9), Rider (4-9)
 
THE LEAD:
Pancake Thomas was sensational, scoring 35 points, grabbing 17 rebounds and dishing out five assists, but a late rally lifted Rider to an 82-80, double-overtime win over the Hartford men's basketball team on Wednesday night. Kahlil Thomas had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Broncs, while Teddy Okereafor led the team with 23 points.
 
It marked the highest scoring game by a Hawk since Aaron Cook netted 40 against Maine on Feb. 2, 2006. Only three other Hawks – Cook, Vin Baker and Ulysses Garcia – have ever scored more points in a game in Hartford's Division I era.

FIRST HALF:
Hartford came strong out of the gate, jumping out to a 10-2 lead thanks in part to three-balls from Thomas and J.R. Lynch. The Hawks continued to build on that, with four early points from TreVaughn Wilkerson putting the lead at 16-9, and later an Evan Cooper triple pushed the advantage to 20-10, the largest edge of the half, with 11:41 left.
 
But the Hawks ran into foul trouble for both Wilkerson and George Blagojevic, and Rider was able to take advantage, slowly chipping away at the lead to knot the score up at 27-27 on a Khalil Alford putback dunk with 2:27 remaining. Hartford got another clutch triple from Cooper from the corner with 1:17 to go, and after a Broncs basket, went to the locker room up 30-29.
 
The Hawks were whistled for 12 fouls in the opening stanza, three each for Wilkerson and Blagojevic. Rider was called for seven infractions by comparison.

SECOND HALF:
Rider delivered a free throw to start the second half to tie the score at 20, but Thomas took over at that point to engineer the Hawks on a 10-0 run. Thomas delivered seven of the 10 points and Lynch added a triple as well to make the lead 40-30. After an Alford bucket for the Broncs, Hartford got a jumper from Lynch and another three from Thomas to push the lead to 45-32 and force a Rider timeout at the 15:46 mark.
 
But the home squad caught fire from the outside, hitting 4-of-5, to cut into the Hartford advantage. Okereafor's triple with 10:58 remaining got the lead down to four, and the Broncs kept the rally going, as Okereafor's steal and layup trimmed the deficit to just one, 52-51.
 
The Hawks got a crucial three-ball from Justin Graham on a dish from Thomas to put the lead back to four, and it see-sawed between two and four for the next several possessions to a 57-53 Hartford lead. But Rider buckled down defensively and got a key three from Jimmie Taylor in a 9-0 run that put them up five with one minute remaining.
 
Thomas hit a pair of free throws, and then the Hawks got a stop. On a wild scramble, the ball got to Jason Dunne, and the New Jersey native, celebrating his birthday, drained a triple – his only shot of the game – to tie the score and send it to overtime.
 
FIRST OVERTIME:
The Broncs started the scoring with a free throw, and the teams traded baskets to a 65-64 Rider edge. Off a scramble reminiscent of the one that sent the game to overtime, Thomas drilled a three to put the Hawks ahead 67-65, but Rider tied the game up once more down low. Hartford had an opportunity to get the game-winning shot, but the Broncs were able to block the attempt and send it to double OT.
 
SECOND OVERTIME:
Rider again took the lead at the free-throw line to start the second OT, then got a dunk to get the lead to three. Hartford then embarked on a 7-0 run, with Thomas getting a layup, Taylor Dyson drilling a three and two free throws from Justin Graham making it 74-70. The Broncs, though, went on a 7-0 run of their own to garner a 77-74 lead, and hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Hartford went to double overtime for the second time this year, joining the season-opening win over Central Connecticut.

• Thomas led the Hawks by playing 46 minutes, even though he was battling an illness on game day. Okereafor played all 50 minutes for Rider.
 
• The Hawks converted 14-of-30 from beyond the arc in the game, while Rider was 7-for-23. The Broncs had 12 more attempts at the line in the contest.


UP NEXT:
Hartford returns home for its final non-conference matchup of the year, taking on Yale on Saturday, Jan. 2. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Get your tickets today by calling 860-768-HAWK (4295) or by visiting HartfordHawks.com.