FAIRFIELD, Conn. — A monstrous performance from graduate student Hunter Marks led the Hartford men's basketball team past Sacred Heart, 78-71, inside the William H. Pitt Center on Wednesday morning. Marks poured in a career-high 31 points — the most for a Hartford player since the 2019-20 campaign — to pace four Hawks in double figures.
 
With the win, Hartford improves to 2-10 on the campaign. Sacred Heart, which was led by 23 points from Aaron Clarke, dips to 4-9 with the defeat.
 
HARTFORD 78, SACRED HEART 71
After a sluggish start that saw Hartford take an early advantage, the Pioneers used nine-unanswered points to go up, 22-14, before they took their lead of the game at 27-18 with 3:51 to go. The Hawks would quickly erase their deficit with a strong end to the half, though. Sparked by a layup by sophomore Briggs McClain, Hartford went off for a 9-0 run of its own to come back and tie up the game at 27-27 with 20 seconds to go. 
 
Four players contributed to that comeback bid, which was capped by a drive by junior Moses Flowers. In the final possession of the half, Sacred Heart went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to take a 28-27 edge into the locker room.  
 
The Hawks opened the second half with another strong spurt, scoring eight of the first 11 points to regain the advantage at 35-31 with 17:18 left. The lead would change hands five more times before a three-pointer from senior D.J. Mitchell — his fourth and final of the day — ignited a 9-2 run that put Hartford in front for good at 58-52 with 7:16 left. Marks, who scored 25 of his game-best 31 points during the second half, capped that game-deciding rally with a three-point play and a triple. 
 
Down the stretch, Marks would throw down a dunk to give Hartford its largest lead of the game at 68-61 with 2:53 to go. Sacred Heart came as close as five, but the Hawks held off the home team from the free-throw line to seal the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• The Hawks were playing without leading scorer Austin Williams, who averages 15.0 points per game
• Marks' 31 points marked the most scored by a Hawk since 2019-20, when Malik Ellison dropped 31 on UAlbany on Jan. 25, 2020
• Turning in a perfect 10-for-10 effort from the free-throw line, he went 10-of-14 from the field (71.4%)
• Mitchell, who accounted for more than half of Hartford's makes from long range with four triples,  registered 18 points
• Flowers registered his team-best third double-double of the season, and the third of his career, after scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 boards
• Sacred Heart shot 95 percent from the free-throw line, going 19-of-20
• The game featured four ties and 10 lead changes
• The Hawks outscored the Pioneers in the paint, 38-20
• Rounding out Hartford's double-figure scorers was Shriver, who added 10 points
• Ending a two-game skid against the Pioneers with the win, the Hawks improve to 11-6 in the all-time series 

 
NEXT ON TAP
The Hawks head to Ithaca, N.Y. to face Cornell in their final non-conference game of 2021-22 on Tuesday, Dec. 28. Tipoff from Newman Arena is set for 2 p.m. Hartford is 4-0 against the Ivy League opponent, most recently scoring an 80-76 victory in West Hartford on Dec. 22, 2019.

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