BURLINGTON, Vt. — Vermont spoiled a wild comeback posted by the Hartford men's basketball team on Saturday, as the Catamounts came away with an 82-72 win in America East action inside Patrick Gymnasium. Senior Austin Williams scored a game-high 24 points for the Hawks, who led with 5:40 left after trailing by 20 points in the second half.
 
Ben Shungu matched Williams' 24 points to lead Vermont, which outscored Hartford by an 18-7 margin over the final 5:26 to seal the win. The Catamounts (13-4) remain undefeated in conference play at 5-0, while the Hawks (3-11) dip to 1-1 in the America East.
 
VERMONT 82, HARTFORD 72
After knocking down six first-half three-pointers to take a 45-28 lead at the break, the Catamounts continued to roll in the second half. With 16:58 remaining, Isaiah Powell stretched Vermont's lead to 52-32 — its largest of the night — on a layup.
 
But Hartford came storming back in a hurry. Junior Moses Flowers knocked down a three to shift the momentum, and following a pair of free throws from Powell, the Hawks went off for 17-unanswered points to pull within two at 54-52 with 11:34 to go. Hartford knocked down a trio of triples during that stretch, which spanned over three and a half minutes.
 
With 9:49 to go, graduate student Hunter Marks would complete the comeback for Hartford, as his layup tied up the game for the first time since the 13:14 mark of the opening stanza at 56-all. Just over three minutes later, the Hawks finally reclaimed the lead at 63-61 thanks to a Flowers bucket. Back-and-forth action would result in Hartford claiming a 65-64 edge with 5:40 to go, but that would be the last advantage for the visiting team.
 
Led by Shungu, who scored half of the Catamounts' final 18 points, Vermont held the Hawks to 1-of-5 shooting down the final stretch to extend its winning streak to seven contests.  
 
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• Marks, who went 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from long range, added 16 points for Hartford
• Flowers added 14 points, while Carter, who picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes after halftime, contributed 11
• The Hawks shot 60 percent and converted on five three-pointers in the second half to fuel their comeback 
• Vermont capitalized from the free-throw line, going 17-of-21 for 81.0 percent
• Hartford shot 83.83 percent from the charity stripe, but was limited to just 12 attempts
• Both teams shot above 50 percent, with Vermont going 28-of-53 from the field for 52.8 percent
• The Catamounts improve to 53-35 in the all-time series

 
NEXT ON TAP

• The turnaround is quick for the Hawks, as they head to upstate New York to face Binghamton on Monday night
• The game was originally scheduled to be played on Jan. 12
• Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Events Center 

For an inside look at Hartford men's basketball, stay with HartfordHawks.com for updates and follow the team on social media: Twitter | Instagram­­