BANGOR, Maine – Redshirt-senior John Carroll calmly sank a pair of free throws with 0.5 seconds left to cap a furious comeback and lead the Hartford men's basketball team to a thrilling, 77-76 win at Maine on Wednesday. Carroll, who went 11-of-13 from the line, scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Hawks, who improve to 9-9 overall and 2-1 in the America East.
 
Winners of four of its last five, Hartford, which came back from a 13-point hole in the second half, overcame a five-point deficit with 24 seconds left to defeat Maine for the third-straight time. Vincent Eze paced the Black Bears (3-16, 1-3 AE) in the losing effort with 18 points.
 
HARTFORD 77, MAINE 76
 
Maine benefited from hot shooting from behind the arc early, as a 6-for-9 start allowed the Black Bears to jump out to a 27-15 lead with 7:00 to go. The Hawks would chip away at their deficit from the free-throw line, but the Black Bears remained on top at halftime, 33-24.  
 
A layup by Eze pushed Maine's advantage to 12 at 46-35 with 15:00 to go, but Hartford came storming back. An 11-0 run fueled by consecutive three-pointers from senior J.R. Lynch quickly whittled the Black Bears' lead down to one with 13:08 to go. With 8:29 remaining, Lynch struck again, drilling another triple to give the Hawks their first lead since the 14:36 minute mark of the first half.
 
The Hawks continued to roll, building their largest lead of the game — an eight-point spread at 62-54 — with 5:35 left. But the 21-point swing wasn't enough to put the game away, as Maine clawed its way back and took the lead on Isaiah White's second-straight three before going up by five inside the final minute.
 
With time quickly dwindling, Dunne knocked down his sixth three-pointer of the night before a steal by senior Travis Weatherington allowed Lynch to tie up the game at 75-75 on a layup with six seconds left. With Hartford forced to foul, White gave the Black Bears a one-point edge after making 1-of-2, leaving the Hawks with one final crack with 3.1 seconds to go. Following a timeout, Carroll received a long pass down court, where he was fouled and sent to the line for the game-winning shots with less than a second left on the clock.   
 
INSIDE THE BOX AND NOTES

• Carroll (55.6%), Blagojevic (55.6%) and Dunne (53.8%) each shot above 50 percent in the game as the Hawks rebounded from a 30.0 percent (6-of-20) first half by going 54.8 percent (17-of-31) in the final stanza
• Hartford finished the game going at 45.1 percent from the field, while Maine, which also had a hot second half at 53.6 percent, finished 45.9 percent (28-of-61)
• Carroll was joined by Dunne (20 points), Lynch (16) and classmate George Blagojevic (14) in double figures
• Going 11-of-13 from the free-throw line, Carroll moved up two spots in Hartford's record book, passing Ryan Howse (1994-98) and Larry Griffiths (1987-91) for eighth with 296 career makes
• Finishing with a pair of steals, Lynch passed John Hurlbert (1984-87) in the record book for ninth with 147 on his career

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford returns home for its next two, beginning with a Saturday afternoon tilt against UMass Lowell at 2 p.m. The Hawks ride a three-game winning streak against the River Hawks into the contest.
 
Tickets can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK or by clicking here.