VESTAL, N.Y. – Senior George Blagojevic got off to a 13-for-13 start from the field to pace the Hartford men's basketball team to a 96-76 win in its final regular-season road game at Binghamton (8-21, 4-10 AE) on Wednesday. Blagojevic shot 88.9 percent from the field (16-of-18) to lead the Hawks with a career-high 32 points. 
 
With their third-straight road victory, the Hawks (16-13, 9-5 AE) clinched a home game in the upcoming America East Playoffs on March 9 (5 p.m.). Beginning at $15, tickets for the quarterfinal round are set to go on sale on Thursday at 10 a.m. 
 
HARTFORD 96, BINGHAMTON 76
 
The Hawks used a 13-5 run capped by a Blagojevic jumper to quickly push a one-point advantage to 12 (29-17) with 9:46 remaining in the first half. The offense continued to roll for Hartford, which shot a season-best 67 percent in the first half, as it led by as many as 20 on another Blagojevic bucket with 1:09 to go. Behind a 10-for-10 effort from the floor by Blagojevic, the Hawks took a comfortable 55-36 lead into the halftime break.
 
Blagojevic continued his hot streak in the second half, making his first three field-goal attempts to help Hartford extend its lead to 26 at 67-41 with 12:06 to go. But Binghamton caught fire from long range, knocking down three-pointers on five-straight possessions — a two-minute stretch — to quickly slash its deficit to 16 (69-53) with 9:45 remaining. The Bearcats pulled within 11 on a Caleb Stewart jumper, but wouldn't come any closer as a pair of J.R. Lynch three-pointers put the Hawks back ahead, 84-67, in the final minutes.
 
INSIDE THE BOX AND NOTES

• Recording a season-best 55 first-half points, Hartford scored the most points in a game since defeating Binghamton, 97-65, last season.
• Blagojevic's 32 points marked the most scored by a Hawk this season, and the second time he has recorded 30 points in a game.
• Making 10 three-pointers in the second half to claw back in the game, the Bearcats finished the night 16-of-37 from long range.
• Sam Sessoms, who accounted for half of Binghamton's 16 threes, led all scorers with 34 points.
• Lynch (17 points), Travis Weatherington (15) and John Carroll (10) joined Blagojevic in double figures.
• With nine rebounds, Blagojevic came one rebound shy of recording his third-straight double-double.
• The Hawks finished the game shooting 59.7 percent (37-of-62) from the field, including 46.2 percent (12-of-16) from three.
• Hartford extended its advantage to 25-13 against Binghamton with its sixth straight win in the series.
• Committing a season-low six turnovers, the Hawks held a 46-point advantage in points in the paint, scoring a season-best 50

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford concludes the regular season with back-to-back home games, beginning with a Saturday matinee against UAlbany. Tipoff between the Hawks and Great Danes is slated to 5 p.m.
 
Prior to tipoff Hartford will honor its six-member senior class — Blagojevic, Carroll, Jason Dunne, Lynch, Max Twyman and Weatherington — in a Senior Night Ceremony. .