WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The No. 3 seeded Hartford men's basketball team shot a sizzling 68 percent from the field in the second half to break open a tied game at halftime and score an 89-75 win against No. 6 UMass Lowell in quarterfinal action of the America East Playoffs on Saturday. Graduate transfer Malik Ellison scored a game-high 26 points, including his 1,000th career point, to pace the Hawks (17-15), who advance to the semifinals for the third time in as many seasons.
 
UMass Lowell finishes its 2019-20 season with a 13-19 overall record.

PHOTO GALLERY
 
#3 HARTFORD 89, #6 UMASS LOWELL 75
After a pair momentum swings resulted in a 38-38 tie at the break, the Hawks came out of the break to outscore the River Hawks, 51-37, in the second half. Hartford, which posted a 12-3 run to open the stanza, went 7-of-7 out of the intermission to take a 57-48 advantage with 14:22 to go. 
 
Ellison was unstoppable in that stretch, scoring 14 of the Hawks' first 19 points on a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the field
 
With Hartford up by 13 — its largest advantage since holding a 25-12 lead midway through the first — UMass Lowell rallied to trim its deficit down to eight at 78-70 with 5:11 to go. But the Hawks held off the visitors with an 11-1 run capped by four points from Ellison to secure the victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• All nine players who got in the game for Hartford scored as the Hawks put up a season-high 89 points
• Ellison, who has scored in double figures in 12-straight contests, recorded his 10th 20+ point outing, including his third in as many games
• Ellison had a hot hand, shooting 10-of-13 from the field
• Previously surpassing the 500-rebound mark on his career this past week against Maine, Ellison pushed his career point total to 1,022 (career numbers include statistics recorded at St. John's and Pitt)
• Sophomore Hunter Marks scored 17 points for the Hawks, while Carter added 14 points and six assists
• The Hawks were impressive from the free-throw line, going 24-for-25 behind a 6-for-6 effort from Ellison and 4-for-4 performances from both freshman Miroslav Stafl and Carter
• Hartford finished the game shooting 59.2 percent from the field (29-of-49), while UMass Lowell, which was held to 27.3 percent shooting from long range (3-of-11), shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor
• Noel and Lutete each scored 23 points to pace the River Hawks

 
NEXT ON TAP
The third-seeded Hawks head to No. 2 Stony Brook for the semifinals of the 2020 Hercules Tires America East Playoffs on Tuesday. Game time is TBD.

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