HAMDEN, Conn. – Redshirt-senior John Carroll scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Hartford men's basketball team to a 68-54 win at in-state rival Quinnipiac on Thursday evening. Senior George Blagojevic recorded Hartford's first double-double of the year, netting 11 points and adding 13 rebounds, while classmate J.R. Lynch added 11 points for the Hawks, who improve to 1-3. 
 
Quinnipiac, which dips to 0-2, was led by a 17-point effort from Cameron Young.
 
HARTFORD 68, QUINNIPIAC 54
Hartford and Quinnipiac went back-and-forth to start the game, with the fifth lead change putting the Bobcats on top, 14-13, after seven minutes. But the Hawks began to heat up, and with 7:24 remaining, senior Jason Dunne capped a 12-3 run featuring six points from Carroll with a deep three from the top of the key to put Hartford on top, 25-17.
 
The Hawks continued to rally, pushing their lead into double figures for the first time (32-22) with six-unanswered points before senior Max Twyman knocked down a baseline three at the buzzer to send the visiting team into the break with a 13-point lead. Carroll, who shot 4-of-5 from the field in that stretch, extended his double-figure scoring streak to 16 games with a game-best 11 first-half points.
 
A pair of threes from Carroll to start the second stanza quickly opened up a 14-point lead for Hartford 80 seconds in. Quinnipiac would cut the deficit to single digits and pull within seven (42-35) on a Young three-pointer, but a barrage of triples — including a pair from Weatherington — fueled a 12-3 run that pushed Hartford's lead to 17 at 54-37 with 7:34 remaining.  
 
The Bobcats put together one more late charge and closed the gap down to seven, but the Hawks scored 10 of the final 13 points to put the game away. 
 
NEWS & NOTES

• Lynch dished out a season-best eight helpers as 14 of the Hawks' 23 field goals were assisted.
• With the eight assists, the senior cracked the program's top-10 in the category with 265 on his career.
• Carroll had a hot hand from the field, shooting 62 percent (8-of-13) on the night.
• Hartford combined to shoot 46.0 percent, including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from long range. Defensively, the Hawks held the Bobcats to a 27.6 percent clip from three-point range (8-of-29).
• Weatherington finished 3-of-4 from behind the arc, with his final make putting the game out of reach at 63-51 with 1:28 to go.
• Hartford has won each of the last two meetings with Quinnipiac.

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford heads to Las Vegas to resume action in the MGM Resorts Main Event Tournament. The Hawks take on Utah Valley on Monday at 2 p.m. (EST) before returning to action on Wednesday against either Iona or Long Beach.