THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: Hartford 79, Florida International 72
RECORDS: Hartford (6-7); FIU (6-7)
LOCATION: Ocean Bank Convocation Center (Miami, Fla.)
 
THE LEAD:
 
A well-balanced offensive attack led a hot-shooting University of Hartford men's basketball team to a 79-72 road win at Florida International on Friday evening. The Hawks shot a season-best 62 percent on the night to earn their third win in four games.
 
Redshirt-junior John Carroll paced five Hawks in double figures with 17 points, adding a career-best 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Trejon Jacob scored a game-best 20 points to pace the Panthers in the losing effort.     
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• A series of momentum swings by both teams resulted in a back-and-forth first half that featured four lead changes before the break. An early 9-2 run put the Hawks up by four, but FIU erased its 17-13 deficit and took its second advantage of the night by scoring 10 of the game's next 12 points.
• The Panthers pushed their lead to as many as six points on an Eric Lockett three-pointer with 4:22 to go before Hartford used another big run to push back ahead.
• Junior Jason Dunne contributed a pair of three-pointers to a 12-4 run that put the Hawks up by two at 34-32, but Lockett would spoil the lead and force the game's sixth tie with a floater at the buzzer.
• Out of the break, an exchange of buckets led to six more lead changes before Hartford used an 11-4 spurt capped by four-straight points from Carroll to push ahead by six at 57-51 with 9:30 to go.
• FIU cut the deficit down to two on a Ronald Whitaker layup, but the Hawks answered with 11-straight points to take their largest lead of the game – a 13-point margin – with 5:05 left. Lynch fueled that key run with seven points.
• In the closing minutes, the Panthers mounted a comeback and again pulled within two with 36 seconds to go. But Lynch came up big from the free-throw line in crunch time, holding off FIU's late charge and sealing the game with a 5-of-6 effort over the final 24 seconds.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE & NOTES:

• All but one of the six Hawks who scored shot 66 percent or better on the night. Junior George Blagojevic shot 5-of-6 from the field (83.3%) to finish with a season-best 10 points, while senior Hassan Attia went 4-of-5 (80%) for eight points.
• Lynch scored 12 of his 14 points in the game's final 7:05 to help the Hawks pull away from the Panthers.
• Dunne and junior Travis Weatherington accounted for six of Hartford's seven three-pointers, finishing with three apiece. The duo each scored 15 points.
• Carroll led all players with six assists, a career high.
• Brian Beard Jr. added 17 points for the Panthers, while Lockett finished with 16.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
The final tune-up before the start of conference play lands the Hawks at Rutgers on Thursday, Dec. 28. Tipoff from Piscataway, N.J., is scheduled for 7 p.m.