BURLINGTON, Vt. —The Hartford men's basketball team suffered its first loss in America East action on Saturday, as it fell at Vermont, 74-57, inside Patrick Gymnasium. Graduate student
Malik Ellison led all scorers with 19 points for the Hawks (10-9), who dip to 3-1 in league play.
Led by 11 points off the bench from Robin Duncan, the Catamounts move to 13-6 overall and 3-1 in the America East.
VERMONT 74, HARTFORD 57
The Hawks jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Catamounts were quick to get back into the game. The gap remained tight, until back-to-back triples from Stef Smith and Ben Shungu made it 29-20 in favor of the Catamounts with 4:02 to go before halftime. Vermont continued to rally, going up by 13 late in the stanza before a three at the buzzer by
Hunter Marks closed the deficit to 10 (37-27) at intermission.
Another hot start to the half saw Hartford trim its deficit to one possession at 37-34 on a 7-0 spurt capped by a
Hunter Marks three-point play. But the Hawks wouldn't come any closer for the remainder of the afternoon, as Vermont pushed its advantage back into double figures midway through the stanza.
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES
- Ellison grabbed eight rebounds, matching Anthony Lamb for a game-high total
- Marks added 17 points, including a 5-for-5 effort from the free-throw line
- Vermont held a 35-27 edge on the boards, which is translated into seven points on second-chance opportunities
- The Catamounts had a hot hand on the afternoon, going 50.8 percent from the field (30-of-59), including 54.8 percent in the opening stanza
- The Hawks held Lamb — one of the league's top scorers and the reigning America East Player of the Year — to just eight points, marking the senior's second-lowest point total in a game this year
NEXT ON TAP
A home matchup against UMBC is next for the Hawks on Wednesday (Jan. 22). The rematch of last season's America East semifinal game is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff from Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. The date also marks Hartford's Coach's vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers game.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK, or by clicking
here.
For more information on the Hartford men's basketball team, stay with HartfordHawks.com for updates and follow the team on social media (
Twitter |
Instagram).
