WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Junior forward Hunter Marks knocked down a pair of three-pointers inside the game's final 46 seconds to lift the Hartford men's basketball team past Maine, 63-60, in both teams' America East debuts Saturday afternoon. Marks, who delivered his final three with two seconds remaining, finished with 11 points, while graduate student Traci Carter led all scorers with 15 points.
 
Hartford, which hosts Maine again in less than 24 hours Sunday, improves to 4-2 with its fourth-straight win. Adefolairin Adetogun scored 14 points to pace the Black Bears, who took the court for the first time in 2020-21.  
 
PHOTO GALLERY
 


HARTFORD 63, MAINE 60
After shaking off the rust of going 12 days without a game, Hartford started to settle in midway through the opening half. Up three with 6:40 left until halftime, the Hawks heated up and scored 12-unanswered points behind 5-for-5 shooting from the field to take a 30-15 advantage with 2:07 remaining. Flowers contributed four points to that stretch, while Williams capped it off with five straight points, including an old-fashioned three-point play.
 
The Hawks held Maine scoreless for nearly six minutes, but five Black Bears' points inside the final 51 seconds of the half closed Hartford's lead to 11, 31-20, at the break. Eight players scored for Hartford in that opening half, led by Williams' seven points.   
 
Hartford allowed the Black Bears to get back in the game in the second half. A 14-0 run that included three three-pointers put Maine back in front, 36-35, with 14:05 left. The lead would change hands four more times from there before junior Michael Dunne, who just entered the game, tied things up at 57-all with less than two minutes to go.
 
Maine would go back in front with 93 seconds left on a Stephane Ingo triple, before Marks delivered his first of two three-pointers with 46 seconds remaining to knot the game at 60-60. After the Black Bears missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22 seconds left, the Hawks called for a timeout and ran the clock, setting the scene for Marks' final dagger from three with just two seconds left.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• Hartford's current four-game winning streak marks its longest since 2018-29
• Williams added nine points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Miroslav Stafl contributed five points and eight rebounds in his season debut
• The Hawks shot 55% from three in the second half (6-for-11), finishing 43% on the afternoon from long range (9-for-21)
• Hartford has won six of the past seven against Maine

 
NEXT ON TAP
The turnaround is quick for the Hawks, as they wrap up their first America East series of the season with a Sunday afternoon tilt against the Black Bears. Tipoff from Reich Family Pavilion is slated for 2 p.m. on ESPN3.