LOWELL, Mass.  –   The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped a 69-63 decision at UMass Lowell on Saturday at the Costello Athletic Center. Sophomore reserve Justin Graham scored 14 points to lead the Hawks, who dip to 12-13 on the season and 5-7 in the America East.

Led by Kerry Weldon's 15 points and seven rebounds, the River Hawks, who never trailed in the contest, improve to 11-15 overall with a 5-8 mark in the conference. Weldon shot 5-of-8 from the floor as UMass Lowell went 50.0 percent (23-of-46) from the field with eight made three-pointers. Hartford shot 42.9-percent overall (24-of-56) and 24.0-percent (6-of-24) from three but went just 9-of-18 from the free throw line.

Making four of its first five shots from three-point land, UMass Lowell jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first six minutes of action. The Hawks managed to mount a comeback and tie up the game at 21-all using an 18-7 run, but the River Hawks closed out the half by scoring 15 of the final 21 points to take a 36-27 advantage into the halftime break.

In the second half, UMass Lowell maintained its lead despite another run by the Hawks. Trailing by 10 at 44-34 with 12:34 to go, Hartford ripped off a 10-3 rally that featured six points from senior Mark Nwakamma, who made his return to the lineup after missing the last two games with an injury. An old fashioned three-point play from the forward made it a one possession game (47-44) with 7:29 left, but the Hawks were unable to get over the hump as the River Hawks ripped-off eight unanswered points to push their lead back into double figures.

That River Hawks' lead stretched to as many as 14 points with 2:37 left in the game. In the final minutes, Hartford made one final charge as Graham scored eight of his points within a 76 second span to close the gap to six points (62-56) with 1:12 remaining. A Taylor Dyson three-pointer with 23.5 ticks to go made it a five-point game at 66-61, but the River Hawks kept their distance as they went 7-for-10 from the free throw line over the last 64 seconds.

Nwakamma finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in his return, where he became the eighth player in Hartford history and the 43rd in the history of the league to score 1,500 points with his first point of the contest.

The Hawks return home on Tuesday to host UMBC at 7 p.m.

THE TURNING POINT:
The Hawks trailed the entire game, but managed to trim a 10-point, second-half deficit down to a single possession at 47-44 with 7:29 to go thanks to a 10-3 run. UMass Lowell answered back, though, with a run of its own. Scoring 15 of the game's next 19 points, the River Hawks extended their lead back into double digits and held a 62-48 advantage over the Hawks with 2:37 left to play.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

·         After a slow start from both teams, UMass Lowell heated up and jumped out to take a 14-3 lead over Hartford. Scoring 12 of the game's next 15 points all on three-pointers, the River Hawks held a 14-3 lead over the Hawks with 13:57 left to play.

·         Hartford dug itself out of its hole and tied up the contest at 21-21 by putting together a 16-5 run over the next 5:10. Cole scored all six of his first-half points during that stretch, sparking the rally with a layup and sinking a three pointer midway through the stanza. A Taylor Dyson three, Hartford's third of the stretch, knotted up the game for the first time since the opening tip with 6:40 to play.

·         UMass Lowell closed out the half by scoring 15 of the final 21 points to reclaim the lead and take a 36-27 edge into the halftime break. With his team leading 24-23, Matt Harris scored six unanswered points for the River Hawks to make it a 30-23 contest. The Hawks cut that lead down to three at 30-27 with 2:27 left thanks to back-to-back buckets from seniors Nate Sikma and Corban Wroe, but UMass Lowell answered back with a half-ending 6-0 run to go up by nine at the intermission.

·         In the second half, Hartford, which trailed by 10 with 12:34 to go, came within three points of UMass Lowell thanks to a 10-3 run. Nwakamma, who sparked the run with a putback, scored the final five points of the spurt to make it a single possession game.

·         UMass Lowell had an answer to Hartford's run, though, as it wheeled off eight unanswered points to regain its double-digit lead. Kerry Weldon netted the final four points of that spurt, and went on to score the River Hawks' next seven points to extend his team's lead to 14 points with 2:37 left on the clock.

·         That deficit proved to be too much for the Hawks to overcome, despite them coming within five points late in the game. Justin Graham scored eight-straight points within a 76-second span to close the gap to six (62-56) with 1:12 left, but UMass Lowell went on to make 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute to hold off the Hawks. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

·         UMass Lowell opened up the game by making four of its first five three-point attempts to take an early 14-3 advantage over the Hawks; they would never relinquish that lead despite the Hawks coming back to tie things up (21-21) with 7:19 left in the first

·         The River Hawks went 6-of-13 from three-point land in the first half (46.2%); the Hawks made just 3-of-11 of their first-half three-pointers

·         Hartford's bench accounted for nearly half (31) of the team's 63 points as sophomore reserve Justin Graham scored a team-high 14 points while freshman John Carroll and junior Taylor Dyson added six points

·         Senior Mark Nwakamma pulled down nine boards as Hartford outrebounded UMass Lowell, 37-31, while scoring nine points off second-chance opportunities

·         Nwakamma added 11 points and was the only other Hawk to register twin figures

·         The Hawks shot 42.9 percent on the afternoon (24-of-56) and 24.0-percent (6-of-24) from three, but made just 9-of-18 free throws

·         Despite making 7-of-10 free throws in the final 64 seconds, UMass Lowell also suffered from the charity stripe as it went just 51.7-percent (15-of-29);

·         Overall, UMass Lowell made 50-percent of its shots (24-of-56), but went just 24.0-percent from behind the arc (6-of-25) 

NEWS AND NOTES: 

·         Saturday marks Hartford's first loss to UMass Lowell since the team made the jump to Division I for the 2013-14 season; the Hawks swept the first-ever regular season meeting last season and took this season's first game in overtime (68-62) in January

·         Hartford has lost six of its last seven games with four of those losses being decided by nine points or less

·         Leading the team with 14 points, sophomore Justin Graham has hit double-figures in his last four games

·         Senior Mark Nwakamma made his return to the lineup after missing the Hawks' last two games with an injury; he had nine rebounds and 11 points on a 4-of-7 effort from the floor 

UP NEXT:
The Hawks meet the UMBC Retrievers at home for  Tuesday night clash at 7 p.m. Hartford took the first of two regular season meetings last month by way of a 65-63 decision in Baltimore. Tickets can be purchased online (www.hartfordhawks.com), by phone (860.768.HAWK) or by visiting the Malcolm & Brenda Berman Athletics Ticket Office.