THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 63, Navy 54
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 2,453
RECORDS: Hartford (5-8); Navy (5-7)

PHOTO GALLERY

THE LEAD:
Four players scored in double figures and the Hartford men's basketball team put forth a strong defensive effort to register a 63-54 win over Navy on Thursday morning. The Hawks earned the victory in front of a crowd of 2,453 with area students traveling to campus for the second annual Hawk Nation Education Day.
 
Jason Dunne led all scorers with 18 points, but he was joined in double digits by Jalen Ross (14 – all in the second half), Jack Hobbs (12) and J.R. Lynch (10). Hassan Attia had a stellar game for the Hawks as well with five blocks, nine rebounds and four points in 24 minutes of work. Dunne more than doubled his career high with five steals in the contest.
 
Tom Lacey led the way for the Midshipmen with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while George Kiernan added 10 points in a losing effort. Those were the only two players to top 10 points though, as the Hawks defense limited Navy to 22-for-63 (.349) shooting from the field.



FIRST HALF:
After a cold start on the offensive end for both teams that saw the Midshipmen up 2-0, Attia delivered an offensive board and dunk to spring the Hawks on a 6-0 run for a 6-2 Hartford lead. But Navy battled back with a 7-0 run of its own to regain the lead, 9-6. The Midshipmen then were able to add to their lead, making it 18-13 with 4:02 to play.
 
That's when Hobbs went on a run, knocking down triples on three straight possessions to deliver a 9-0 run on his own for a 22-18 lead. Navy cut the deficit to 22-21 at the break.

SECOND HALF:
Navy came out of the locker room on a roll defensively, and delivered a 7-2 run out of the break to take a 28-24 lead. But back-to-back three-balls by Dunne catapulted the Hawks on a 16-3 run to take control. Ross closed out the rally with five-straight points – his first five of the night – to push the lead to 40-31.
 
The Midshipmen refused to wilt, though, and quickly responded with a 9-0 run to knot the score up at 40. But Lynch delivered a clutch jumper and Hobbs followed with a three in a 10-2 rally that saw the Hawks lead 50-42 following another Ross triple at the 8:52 mark. The score remained that way for more than three minutes, as Navy went on a brief, 4-0 run to cut the lead to 50-46 with 4:57 to play.
 
Ross delivered another clutch shot, though, as his three pushed the lead back to seven with just over four minutes remaining. Navy cut the lead down to four, but Attia delivered his fifth and final block of the night to thwart the Midshipmen's effort to make it a one-possession game, and the Hawks made their free throws and closed out the game on the defensive boards.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Hawks have now won four of their last five contests and have their first three-game winning streak since opening conference play 4-0 in the 2014-15 season.
• Ross extended his double-figure scoring streak to 27-straight games, dating back to January of last year. He did not score a point for the first 25:52 of game action.
• Attia delivered career highs in rebounds (nine) and blocks (five). He now has a league-best 20 blocks to go along with 12 steals in just seven games. He is shooting 14-for-23 (.609) from the field as well.
• Hartford placed four players in double digits for the first time since seeing five score 10-plus at Sacred Heart on Dec. 3.
• Hartford's 19 turnovers were a season high, but the Hawks committed just five in the second half after a tough first half.
• Attia's four points were the only ones scored by a player whose first name begins with a letter other than "J." In addition to the four players in double digits, John Carroll scored five points for the Hawks.

 
UP NEXT:
Following the holidays, the Hawks will embark on a three-game road trip with contests at Davidson (Dec. 28), Yale (Jan. 2) and Vermont (Jan. 7) before returning to Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion on Jan. 11 against UMBC.