WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Junior Briggs McClain broke loose for a career-best 24 points but the Hartford men's basketball team fell, 77-70, to Sacred Heart in the season opener at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on Tuesday night.
The Hawks (0-1) trailed by three with less than a minute to play when Nico Galette scored to put the Pioneers on top by five. With Hartford forced to foul to extend the game, SHU (1-0, 0-0 NEC) padded its lead in the closing seconds.
 
BOX SCORE

SACRED HEART 77, HARTFORD 70
Four Pioneers scored in double figures, with Joey Reilly leading the way with 23. Aidan Carpenter finished with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 17 minutes, before exiting the game with a knee injury just 45 seconds into the second half. Sacred Heart led 44-35 at the time but the Hawks rallied quickly, using a 9-0 run to even the score.
 
McClain and forward Pano Pavlidis provided a one-two punch for Hartford, combining to score 14 of the Hawks first 17 second-half points. McClain's game-high 24 points topped a previous career-best of 22, set against UMBC on Feb. 23, 2022, while Pavlidis, a transfer from Molloy University, chipped in 14 in his Hartford debut. Sophomore Kurtis Henderson also netted 12 for the Hawks, with Michael Dunne finishing with nine points and five rebounds.
 
Sacred Heart's balanced attack proved to be too much in the end. The Pioneers, picked to finish No. 2 in the Northeast Conference Preseason Poll, had four players finish in double figures, including Reilly, Carpenter, Galette (13 points) and Raheem Solomon (10 points). Galette was a preseason NEC All-Conference pick, while Solomon and Carpenter both joined the Pioneers this past offseason.
 
Hartford last lead came just under the eight-minute mark in the second half, when Henderson (6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) connected on a pair of free throws to put the Hawks in front 62-61. Hartford kept pace the rest of the way until Sacred Heart pulled away in the final minute, handing Hartford its third consecutive opening night setback.


INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• Tuesday's game marked the first under Interim Head Coach Tom Devitt, who took over following the resignation of longtime head coach John Gallagher
• The teams were even around the basket, each scoring 34 points in the paint, but SHU held a 20-11 advantage on the break
• Sacred Heart also outscored Hartford, 18-10, on second-chance points
• The Hawks were on fire at the free throw line, converting 13 of 14 attempts
• Pavlidis made his first career appearance and start for Hartford, while freshmen Braxton Jones (six minutes) and Lorenzo Washington (five minutes) also made their debuts for the Hawks
• The game was Hartford's first as a Division I Independent program, following the Hawks departure from the America East Conference

 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford will stay at home to host NVU-Lyndon on Thursday at 7 p.m. It will be the first-ever matchup between the two teams. The Hornets (1-0) defeated New England College 69-68 Tuesday night.
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