PHOTO GALLERY
 
THE BASICS:

RESULT: Albany 86, Hartford 60
LOCATION: Chase Family Arena at Reich Family Pavilion
ATTENDANCE: 2,341
RECORDS: Hartford (7-16, 2-6 America East); Albany (17-6, 6-2)

THE LEAD:
Jalen Ross scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, but it wasn't enough as the Hawks fell to conference foe Albany by a score of 86-60 on Saturday night. Peter Hooley led all scorers with 27 points, delivering a double-double with 12 rebounds as well.
 
Pancake Thomas added eight points in the loss, eight boards and two assists, and Jason Dunne chipped in a career-high 10 points off the bench.

FIRST HALF:
Hartford scored on its first attempt of the game when George Blagojevic sent a nifty pass to Thomas on a nice cut to the rim to get the Hawks on the board. The Hawks spread the wealth in the scoring column early on in the contest, with a different player (Thomas, Jalen Ross, J.R. Lynch, and Taylor Dyson) scoring each of Hartford's first four baskets.
 
The first half opened with both squads trading punches, as both teams pushed the pace early on in the contest. With the Great Danes up 10-7, Thomas found Dyson in the corner for a three to knot the game up at 10. On the next possession, Blagojevic forced a turnover and scooped up the loose ball when he then found Lynch on the outlet, leading to a crafty finish by Lynch at the rim to give Hartford a 12-10 lead with 13:50 to play.
 
Albany would lock down on defense and start up a 21-6 run capped off by a Hooley three pointer that put the Hawks down 32-18 with 4:43 to go in the half. After going cold from the field down the stretch, the Hawks would start to pick up steam after Blagojevic and Evan Cooper drilled threes on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead down to 36-26.
 
Hartford ran the clock down at the end of the half, and Dunne cut towards the rim and got fouled. Dunne hit both free throws at the stripe, cutting the lead down to 10 as the Hawks headed to the locker room. Cooper led all Hartford scorers at the half with seven points.

SECOND HALF:
The second half kicked off with a couple of quick baskets from Albany, but the Hawks responded on a powerful play from TreVaughn Wilkerson, who came swooping in from the weak side for a putback slam off a missed jumper from Ross. The Great Danes defense clamped down inside the paint, though, and the Hawks struggled to attack and get to the basket down the stretch. Albany took advantage of a cold shooting streak from Hartford to go on a 16-6 run to stretch their lead to 54-34 with 13:10 to play in the half.

A Dunne three spelled the run and got the Hawks back into an offensive groove. After a Thomas jumper, Dyson got into the lane and finished through contact to cut the score to 56-41. The Hawks, though, struggled to answer Albany's hot shooting from the outside as the Great Danes pulled away on the strength of Peter Hooley's range and Albany finished off the 86-60 victory.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Ross scored 12 points to lead the Hawks, marking the fourth-straight game that the redshirt junior put up double figures in points.
• Jason Dunne scored a career-high 10 points, going 3-for-4 from the field. The freshman's previous high was eight against Vermont.
• Eight different Hawks dished out assists in the game, with four players logging two each.
• The Hawks went 10-for-12 at the free-throw line, which marks the fourth-straight game that they shot .750 or better at the stripe. In the last four games, Hartford is 66-for-83 (.795) from the line.
  
  UP NEXT:
  Hartford finishes up its three-game home stretch when it takes on UMass Lowell in a mid-week matchup on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. The game will be a "Blackout" with all fans encouraged to wear black, as the game is televised on ESPN3. Tickets are available by calling 860-768-HAWK or visiting the Tickets page at HartfordHawks.com.