STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Despite clawing back to make it a game down the stretch, the Hartford men's basketball team was unable to fully recover from a slow start on Saturday, as the Hawks dropped a 77-68 decision in non-conference action at Wagner. Senior Jason Dunne scored 20 to lead all scorers for Hartford, which dips to 5-8, while Romone Saunders paced (5-5) with 18 points in the win.

WAGNER 77, HARTFORD 68
 
A sluggish start that saw the Hawks go 0-for-8 from the field and commit eight turnovers over the first nine minutes allowed Wagner to rip off a 20-0 run to start the game. Getting on the board on a Max Twyman layup with 10:41, Hartford outscored the Seahawks by a margin of 19-12 to pull within 13 at 32-19 by the break.

Quickly bringing their deficit down to single digits on back-to-back buckets by junior transfer Romain Boxus in the opening minutes of the second, the Hawks continued to chip away. With 2:06 remaining, Dunne knocked down a three – his third of the stanza – to pull Hartford within five at 64-59. But Wagner held off the comeback bid, scoring five-straight points from the line over the next minute to extend the lead back into double digits.

INSIDE THE BOX AND NOTES

• Lynch added 14 points while classmate Travis Weatherington added 12 to round out the Hawks' double-figure scorers.
• Despite going 0-for-8 to start the game, Hartford outshot Wagner from the field, going 43.61 percent (22-of-51) to the Seahawks' 39.6 percent (19-of-48)
• The Hawks also held the edge from three-point land, going 10-of-28 (35.7%) while holding the Seahawks to 7-of-25 (28.0%)
• Dunne, who recorded his second 20-point effort of the season, went 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, as Hartford went 14-of-17.
• Wagner cashed in from the charity stripe, scoring 32 of its points off freebies on 88.9 percent shooting (32-of-36).
• he Hawks were playing without leading scorer John Carroll, who has missed the past three games with an injury.

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford returns to Reich Family Pavilion next Saturday to play host to Marist at 2 p.m. Tickets for the Hawks' final non-conference home game of the season are available, and can be purchased by clicking here.