THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 70, Dartmouth 66
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 905
RECORDS: Hartford (4-8); Dartmouth (0-9)

PHOTO GALLERY

THE LEAD:
Consecutive blocks by Jack Hobbs and TreVaughn Wilkerson with less than 20 seconds to play helped the Hartford men's basketball team outlast Dartmouth, 70-66, on Tuesday night. Jalen Ross poured in 27 points on 11-of-18 (.611) shooting in the game for the Hawks, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
 
J.R. Lynch added 10 points, three assists and three steals in the victory, while Hobbs chipped in eight points and three steals to go with his block. Ross led the way with five assists in his 36 minutes of action as well, while John Carroll chipped in a block and two steals.
 
Evan Boudreaux led the Big Green with 23 points, including a 9-of-11 performance at the free-throw line, while Guilien Smith added 14. Ian Sistare led the team with six rebounds and three assists.



FIRST HALF:
Hartford started out with an impressive opening on the defensive end, using eight steals in the first 11:38 to vault out to a 16-11 lead. Ross knocked down a pair of threes in the start, while Hassan Attia threw down a thunderous dunk and Andrew Ramirez, Hobbs and Wilkerson all delivered layups.
 
But the Hawks went cold on the offensive end, and Dartmouth took advantage, going on a 13-0 run to garner a 24-16 lead. Attia got the Hawks off the schneid with a monster jam, then a Lynch three-ball got the lead down to three. The Big Green got the lead back to 31-23, but the Hawks ended the half getting jumpers from Lynch and George Blagojevic to enter the locker room down 31-27.

SECOND HALF:
The Big Green got the first bucket of the second half, but then Ross took over, scoring 10 of the game's next 11 points to put the home squad ahead, 37-34. The Big Green responded with a tip-in by Wesley Dickinson on Dartmouth's next possession, cutting Hartford's lead to one with 14:34 left to play, and neither side led by more than three points for the next 12 minutes. During that stretch there were three ties and four lead changes.
 
Dartmouth held a three-point lead with four minutes to play, but Lynch came through with a huge three from the corner to tie the score once again with 3:50 remaining. The visitors moved back ahead on a layup, but the Hawks got a three-point play from Ross and a corner three-ball from Hobbs to move ahead 64-60.
 
The Big Green had an answer, though, getting a layup from Boudreaux followed by a three-ball from Smith to take a 65-64 lead with a minute to go. Ross drained a jumper to put the Hawks ahead, 66-65 with 43 seconds to play, setting up the heroics for Hobbs and Wilkerson, as Hartford closed out the win at the line.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Hawks won back-to-back games for the first time this season and have now won three of the last four.
• Ross extended his double-figure scoring streak to 26-straight games, dating back to January of last year.
• Lynch finished in double digits for the six time in the last nine contests, going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. He has gone 17-for-29 from beyond the arc over the last nine.
• Ross matched his season high with five assists in the contest and scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half.
• The Hawks forced a season-high 21 turnovers and saw the opposition turn the ball over 20 times or more for the third time in the last four games. Hartford matched its season high with 11 steals.

 
UP NEXT:
Hartford breaks for final exams and will be out of action until Thursday, Dec. 22, against Navy. That contest will be Hawk Nation Education Day, with students from area schools coming to campus to learn more about the university and catch the game. For others wishing to purchase tickets, please visit HartfordHawks.com or call 860.768.HAWK (4295).