THE BASICS:

RESULT: Quinnipiac 68, Hartford 66
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE:  1,014
RECORDS: Quinnipiac (4-4), Hartford (3-7)

THE LEAD:
Justin Graham netted 17 points and J.R. Lynch added 12, but Quinnipiac survived a late rally by the Hartford men's basketball team to post a 68-66 win on Wednesday. Giovanni McLean netted 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting in the win for the Bobcats, while James Ford added 14 points and eight rebounds.
 
Hartford's defense keyed a late 14-0 run to overcome a 13-point deficit, as the Hawks posted a season-high 12 steals and turned 21 Quinnipiac turnovers into 38 points.

FIRST HALF:
The game opened with back-and-forth momentum swings, as the Bobcats got out to a 7-0 lead, and then the Hawks countered with a 9-0 rally. Lynch started things with a three-ball and Pancake Thomas capped it off with a three-point play. QU delivered another 7-0 rally to regain the lead at 14-9, but again the Hawks came storming back with a 9-4 run, led by two Jack Hobbs triples, to make it 19-18 in favor of the visitors.
 
The Bobcats pushed the lead back to seven with a 6-0 run, but Lynch and Thomas delivered consecutive buckets to cut it to a 25-22 deficit with 6:34 left in the half. The teams traded baskets to a 34-29 score, but a pair of three pointers in the final 1:09 for Quinnipiac led the Bobcats to a 40-31 lead at the break.
 
Hartford was impressive in transition, outscoring the Bobcats 18-0 off turnovers, but Quinnipiac offset that with a 6-for-9 performance from downtown.

SECOND HALF:
The Bobcats continued their hot shooting out of the break, knocking down four threes in the first 4:36 of the stanza to push the lead to 54-39 at the 15:24 mark. But Hobbs nailed another three to commence an 8-2 rally for the Hawks, cutting it back to single digits at 56-47 after an Evan Cooper triple at the 13:01 mark. Quinnipiac then scored four straight to push the lead back to 13 at 60-47.
 
That's when the Hawks went on a pivotal 14-0 run to regain the lead. Thomas started the rally with a jumper, and then Hartford notched three straight steals, all of which led to baskets – one each for Lynch, Cooper and George Blagojevic – to cut it to 60-55 and force a QU timeout. Then it was another steal for the Hawks – this one by Cooper – that sprung Lynch for a three-ball, and the final blow came in a three-point play for Blagojevic that put Hartford up 61-60 with 6:53 to go.
 
Quinnipiac snapped the run with a bucket inside, but the Hawks got two right back on a Blagojevic layup and the score remained 63-62 in favor of the home squad for the next 3:18. A Graham jumper pushed the lead to 65-62, but McLean came right back with a pair of free throws to cut it back to one. Each team went 1-for-2 at the line on their next possessions, but for the visitors, the second miss resulted in an offensive board. McLean then knocked down a jumper to put QU ahead by one with 1:16 to go.
 
Hartford had a pair of opportunities on the offensive side, but couldn't convert, and then James Ford went 1-for-2 at the line to push the lead to 68-66. The Hawks had a solid chance at the final buzzer, but Lynch's three-ball rimmed out and Quinnipiac emerged with the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Hartford's 38 points off turnovers were a season high for the Hawks, easily besting the previous high of 24 set last game at Dartmouth. Hartford only committed nine turns in the game, and only allowed three points off of that.
 
• Five different players had multi-steal games, led by Cooper's three swipes. Blagojevic, Graham, Thomas and Lynch each had two as well.
 
• Hobbs led the way with 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc for the Hawks. The rest of the team went just 4-for-23 (.174) from downtown.
 
• The Hawks won the battle in the paint, outscoring Quinnipiac inside 28-20. The Hawks also outscored the Bobcats on the fast break, 14-5.
 
• Quinnipiac shot 10-for-20 from beyond the three-point arc, the first time this season the Bobcats have hit the 50 percent mark from downtown. Quinnipiac was 18-for-61 (.295) in the last three.

UP NEXT:
Hartford returns to Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion for a Saturday night matchup against Holy Cross on December 12. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. Tickets start at just $5 and are available by calling the Malcolm and Brenda Berman Athletics Ticket Office at 860.768.HAWK or visiting HartfordHawks.com.