THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 87, UMass Lowell 84 (OT)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 882
RECORDS: Hartford (8-19, 3-9 America East); UMass Lowell (11-17, 5-8)



THE LEAD:
J.R. Lynch's buzzer beater sent the game to overtime, and the Hartford men's basketball team triumphed in the extra session, overcoming a tremendous second-half charge by UMass Lowell to win its second straight, 87-84, on Sunday.
 
Jason Dunne (29) led all scorers, while J.R. Lynch (22), Hassan Attia (19) and Jack Hobbs (12) all finished in double digits in the victory. Attia grabbed eight boards to go along with four blocks and three steals. Lynch dished out seven assists to go along with four steals as well.
 
Jahad Thomas delivered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort, while Ryan Jones finished one off his career high with 24 points, going 8-for-11 from downtown. Tyler Livingston (17) and Matt Harris (12) also finished in double figures for UML.
 
FIRST HALF:
UMass Lowell came out by hitting its first two threes for an early 6-0 advantage. But it was all Hartford for the remainder of the stanza. Dunne got things started with a layup, and scored 10 of the game's next 12 points, as the Hawks embarked on a 10-0 run to take a 12-6 lead. The teams then traded points to a 16-12 Hartford lead at the 11:00 mark.
 
A Lynch jumper got the Hawks going once again, as he set Hartford on a 10-2 run that included a pair of Dunne threes, to make it 26-14. UML then scored five straight to trim the deficit to just seven, 26-19.
 
But the Hawks came roaring back, starting with a fast-break dunk for Attia off a Lynch steal. Hobbs and Lynch followed with three-pointers, then Attia added another flush to push the lead to 17. Lynch then added a pair of jumpers in the final 1:07 to push the halftime score to 40-19, as the Hawks ended the stanza on a 14-0 run.
 
SECOND HALF:
The Hawks got a quick three from Dunne after the break to push the run to 17-0, and eventually got the lead to a game-high 25 after a Hobbs triple at the 18:51 mark.
 
But Hartford went quiet offensively after Attia picked up a pair of fouls, and slowly, UMass Lowell was able to chip away, one basket at a time. Livingston's three cut the deficit to single digits, 51-42, with 10:15 to play, and the teams traded baskets to a 55-45 score. UML then went on an 18-5 run to take a three-point lead, 63-60, after Jones' three with 3:35 remaining.
 
The Hawks got key baskets from George Blagojevic and Attia, but UML kept getting answers, and held a four-point lead with 23 seconds left after a Logan Primerano free throw. Then Lynch got an offensive rebound and bagged a clutch three to cut the deficit to one with 10.5 left. After Thomas went 1-for-2 at the line, Lynch sprinted end-to-end on the inbound, and his game-tying jumper at the buzzer sent the game to the extra session.

OVERTIME:
Overtime saw the teams trade baskets to a 75-75 score, and then a Dunne triple put the Hawks up 78-75. After a Thomas jumper trimmed it to one, Hobbs nailed a clutch three-ball with the shot clock ticking down to push the lead to four. Jones answered with a three of his own, but again, Hobbs delivered the crucial blow, as his triple with 27 seconds left once more put the Hawks up two possessions.
 
Lynch pushed the lead to five with a pair of free throws before Jones cut the lead to two with yet another three, but the Hawks were able to hold on as Lynch hit 1-of-2 at the stripe to result in the final score.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Three players – Dunne, Lynch and Attia – all registered career highs in points in the victory. Lynch also matched his career best with seven assists and set a new career mark with four steals.
• Dunne's 10 field goals and six three-pointers were both career highs, as he came up one point shy of 30 in the game. Sixteen of his 29 points came in the opening stanza.
• Lynch has now scored 64 points in the last five games after scoring just 12 in the previous eight contests. He registered his season high for the second-straight game.
• Attia went 7-for-8 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. His only miss resulted in an offensive rebound and putback for him.
• The Hawks were without the services of two starters – Jalen Ross and John Carroll – both of whom were sidelined with injury.

 
UP NEXT:
The Hawks remain at home for Wednesday night, when they play host to Stony Brook for a 7 p.m. tipoff. At halftime, the Department of Athletics will recognize all student-athletes from the University who recorded a 3.0 GPA or higher in the fall. Tickets are available by calling 860.768.HAWK (4295) or at HartfordHawks.com.