WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford men's basketball team put up a fight, but was unable to take down first-place Vermont on Saturday, as the Catamounts came away with a 77-75 win inside Reich Family Pavilion.
J.R. Lynch scored 21 points to pace the Hawks (13-13), who fall to 6-5 in the America East.
Anthony Lamb led all scorers with 25 points as Vermont (21-5) improves to 11-1 in conference games.
PHOTO GALLERY
VERMONT 77, HARTFORD 75
Nine lead changes to start the game resulted in Hartford taking a 31-28 lead on a
Jason Dunne three with 3:34 left in the half. The Catamounts responded with an 8-0 run to go up, 36-31, in the final minute, before a pair of
John Carroll free throws and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by
Max Twyman made it a tied game at the break.
Both teams continued to exchange blows in the second half, with a
Travis Weatherington three-pointer providing Hartford with its largest lead of the night — a seven-point edge at 52-45 — with 13:13 to go. But the Catamounts rallied back with a stretch that proved to be the difference, as a 15-6 run put the visiting team in front for good with 4:46 left to play.
INSIDE THE BOX AND NOTES
- Three Hawks joined Lynch in double figures: Dunne (16 points), Carroll (13) and Weatherington (10)
- Blagojevic came just shy of his fifth double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
- Hartford shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field, including a 54.5 percent (12-of-22) clip from behind the arc.
- Vermont cashed in from the free-throw line, going 18-of-21, including 14-of-17 in the second stanza.
NEXT ON TAP
The Hawks conclude the road portion of their America East slate with three-straight games away from West Hartford. The road swing begins with a stop at New Hampshire on Thursday at 7 p.m.
