THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: Hartford 65, New Hampshire 56
RECORDS: Hartford (17-11, 10-4 AE); UNH (10-19, 6-9 AE)
LOCATION: Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (West Hartford, Conn.)
PHOTO GALLERY
 
THE LEAD:
 
Junior J.R. Lynch hit a pair of clutch shots in crunch time on Wednesday night to lead the University of Hartford men's basketball team to its third straight win by way of a 65-56 defeat of visiting New Hampshire. Leading all scorers with 17 points, Lynch broke open a tied ball game with the go-ahead three-pointer before driving to the hoop for a layup inside the final two minutes to seal the win for the Hawks.

Redshirt-junior John Carroll added 13 points and nine rebounds for Hartford, which has won six of its past seven. With the victory, the Hawks are now tied with UMBC for second place in the America East standings with respective 10-4 marks.
 
Elijah Jordan scored 14 points for New Hampshire in the losing effort, while Iba Camara registered a game-best 11 rebounds for the Wildcats.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Four three-point possessions including an old-fashioned three-point play and back-to-back Jason Dunne triples gave Hartford a 12-2 lead less than three minutes in to the game. New Hampshire mounted a rally, though, pulling with six at 19-13 with 11:29 left before a Josh Hopkins make from long range ignited a big run for the Wildcats.
• Holding Hartford off the scoreboard for nearly six minutes, UNH scored 12 unanswered points during that stretch to take its first lead of the game at 26-19 with 6:34 to go. A 12-4 run put the lead back in the hands of the Hawks, before a pair of Wildcats' free throws with 30.1 seconds remaining put UNH on top by one, 32-31, at the break.
• The second half featured back-and-forth action between the Hawks and the Wildcats, with Hartford's five-point advantage at 56-51 with 5:01 left to play marking the largest lead for any team in the entire stanza.
• A putback by Camara followed by a 2-of-3 combined effort from the line by Camara and Keon Burns forced the game's sixth tie at 56-all with less than three minutes left to play.
• That tie proved to be the last of the game, though, as Lynch came down the floor and hit a clutch three before driving to the hoop for two more to make it a five-point Hartford advantage with 69 seconds left. The Hawks went on to end the game with a 9-0 run, going 4-for-6 from the free-throw line to put the game away.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE & NOTES:
 

• Senior Hassan Attia, who also finished in double figures with 10 points, added four blocks for the Hawks.
• Finishing with a team-high in scoring, Lynch improved his double-figure scoring streak to nine games, which marks a career-best rally.
• Knocking down a trio of shots from behind the arc to finish with 12 points, Dunne moved into sixth place in Hartford's record books in all-time three-pointers. He has 169 on his career and needs two more to tie for fifth.
• Scoring their 17th win of the season, the Hawks have posted the most victories since 2013-14, when the team finished 17-16. Hartford is one win shy of matching the program's Division I record of 18 victories, set in 2007-08.
• The Hawks' 10 wins in America East action mark the most since 2013-14.
• Both teams played a clean game, combining for just 17 turnovers. Hartford committed nine on the night, while Hartford turned the ball over eight times.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
The Hawks hit the road for the final time in the 2017-18 regular season on Saturday, when they head to Binghamton for a 4 p.m. clash with the Bearcats.