ROCK HILL, S.C. — Senior Austin Williams scored a game-high 21 points and classmate David Shriver added a career-best 20 points, but the Hartford men's basketball team came up short at reigning Big South Champion Winthrop in an 82-75 decision on Wednesday. The Hawks fall to 0-7, while the Eagles improve to 4-3 on the season.
 
WINTHROP 82, HARTFORD 75
A see-saw of a first half featuring six lead changes and three ties resulted in the Eagles taking a four-point edge (42-38) into the halftime break. Hartford, which trailed by seven but came back to take a 31-30 lead on a 10-2 run capped by back-to-back threes from seniors David Shriver and Michael Dunne, was quickly dealt another seven-point deficit after conceding eight-unanswered points to Winthrop. The Hawks managed to pull within one when Shriver delivered another three-pointer with 20 seconds left, but Cory Hightower answered with one of his own in the closing seconds to put the Eagles back up by four at the break.
 
Despite Shriver making it a one-point game for the second time just 55 seconds into the second with his fourth three of the night, the Hawks would never reclaim the lead. Keeping the game close and remaining within arms' reach of Winthrop, Hartford, which trailed by eight on three occasions, made it close down the stretch.
 
Graduate student Hunter Marks, who saw limited minutes all night due to foul trouble, converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a one-possession game at 78-75 with 3:08 to go. But after Drew Buggs knocked down a crucial 15-footer for the Eagles on the next possession to make it a five-point game, the Hawks combined to miss each of their last 10 shots over their final five possessions.
 
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• Williams, who fouled out down the stretch, added 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season
• His 11 rebounds and 21 points are both season-best totals
• Williams scored 17 of his points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting from the field
• Shriver knocked down six three-pointers, the most for a Hawk this season
• Flowers also finished in double figures for the Hawks with 15 points
• Hartford shot just 50.0 percent from the line (7-of-14)
• Winthrop, which attempted seven more free throws than Hartford, went 16-of-21 for 76.2 percent
• Pulling down a game-best 13 rebounds, Hightower led the Eagles with 19 points
• The Eagles took a slight 2-1 edge in the all-time series with Wednesday's win

 
NEXT ON TAP
The Hawks return to the Northeast to face St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday (Dec. 5). Tipoff from Daniel Lynch '38 Gymnasium is set for 2 p.m.

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