THE BASICS:RESULT: Hartford 82, Maine 74
LOCATION: Cross Insurance Center (Bangor, Maine)
ATTENDANCE: 1,145
RECORDS: Hartford (9-21, 4-11 America East); Maine (8-20, 4-11)
THE LEAD:Pancake Thomas scored 23 points and became the eighth different Hawk in Division I history to top 500 points in a season, and the Hartford men's basketball team earned an 82-74 win over Maine on Wednesday. Eight different players scored at least six points in the victory for the Hawks.
Jalen Ross added 14 points and
George Blagojevic netted 10 for Hartford, which won the battle of the boards, 38-37. Isaac Vann had 23 points and eight rebounds in a losing effort for the Black Bears.
Coupled with UMBC's win over Binghamton, the Hawks are in a three-way tie for the fifth seed in the conference tournament, along with Maine and BU, with one game left for all three teams.
FIRST HALF:The two teams traded baskets early to a 4-4 score, but the Black Bears heated up from the field to build a 13-6 lead at the 14:14 mark. But the Hawks went on a 14-2 run, keyed by two three-balls each from
Evan Cooper and Thomas that made it a 20-15 Hawks advantage at the 10:16 mark. Maine stopped the run there, but the Hawks were able to hold a 26-22 lead on another Thomas three with 8:55 on the clock.
But the Black Bears went on a rally at that juncture, rolling off a 10-2 run to take a 32-28 advantage. After the two squads traded buckets to a 34-32 score, Maine rolled off seven straight, culminating in a Till Gloger layup that made it 41-32. But
TreVaughn Wilkerson snapped the rally just before the half, sending the Hawks to the locker room down 41-34.
SECOND HALF:Wilkerson's basket turned the momentum the Hawks' way to start the second half, as Hartford came out of the gate with a 14-4 run to regain the lead, 48-45. Thomas, Ross and Blagojevic hit triples in succession to put the Hawks ahead at the 15:17 mark. Both teams went cold offensively at that time, and the Black Bears slowly chipped away, regaining the advantage 51-50 on an Isaac Vann three-ball.
But Thomas answered immediately with a triple to regain the lead, and the teams traded points to a 54-all score. The Hawks then got a big sequence from their young bigs, with Blagojevic hitting a runner off the glass,
Jack Hobbs drawing a charge and then finally Hobbs nailing a three to take a 59-54 lead at the 7:51 mark. But Maine came right back with five straight points to make it 59 apiece, and then the teams swapped points for a 61-61 score.
Hartford then locked down on defense, holding Maine scoreless on five straight possessions and cashing in at the free-throw line to take a 71-61 lead on the strength of a 10-0 run. The Hawks were able to push the lead up to 12 at the line, and held on for the 82-74 victory
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:• Thomas became the first Hawk since Joe Zeglinski in 2007-08 to top the 500-point mark in a season. It was the 20
th 500-point season overall in Hartford history, dating back to Gary Palladino in 1965-66.
• Ross finished in double figures for the 11
th consecutive game. He is now averaging 12.8 points in conference play this year, second behind Thomas on the team.
• The Hawks were outstanding at the line, shooting 20-for-23 at the stripe, a season-best percentage of .870.
• Wilkerson had another big night for the Hawks, snaring a career-high eight boards to go along with three blocks and six points. He has 11 blocks in the last five games.
• Hartford had its 14
th game this season with at least 10 threes, going 12-for-27 from downtown.
UP NEXT:Hartford will close out the regular season with a trip to Albany to take on the Great Danes on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be carried on the Talk of Connecticut 1360 AM with Jeff Dooley and Randy LaVigne on the call.
