BALTIMORE, Md. — Senior Austin Williams scored a game-high 24 points as the Hartford men's basketball team fell, 68-64, at UMBC on Wednesday evening. With the Hawks leading 31-22 at the half, UMBC used a late comeback to take home the victory.
 
Hartford (5-16), dips to 3-6 in America East action. Led by 19 points from Darnell Rogers, UMBC improves to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in the league.
 
UMBC 68, HARTFORD 64
UMBC opened the first half hot, taking a 7-2 lead in the opening five minutes. Flowers would respond with his first three of the half, cutting the Retrievers advantage to 7-5. Austin Williams gave the Hawks the lead its first lead of the half at the 13:25, after draining a triple. The two sides would trade buckets, eventually playing out to a 20-20 tie after another Williams three with 3:45 remaining. From there, Flowers would catch fire from beyond the arc. The junior would outscore UMBC 11-2 in the closing minutes, using three made triples to give the Hawks a 31-22 lead at the half.
 
Hartford extended its halftime advantage to 11, 37-26, after Flowers made a pair of free throws at the 17-minute mark. UMBC began to fight back, going on a 5-0 run that was ended by a Traci Carter three, extending the Hawks lead back to nine, 40-31. The Retrievers would not go away, pulling within one, 45-44, with 9:40 remaining in the game. A pair of Carter threes opened Hartford's advantage back up, 51-44. David Shriver would knock down a crucial jumper at the 3:42 mark, to have the Hawks go up by seven, 58-51. However, UMBC would close the gap, tying the game up at 60-60 with 2:39 remaining. Williams would score the next four Hartford points, taking a 64-62 lead with 1:17 left. The Retrievers would prevent the Hawks from scoring any further, finishing on a 6-0 run to escape with a 68-64 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES

• Williams finished 9-of-7 from the field and 4-of-7 from three
• He also added six reb0unds, four assists and a game-high five steals
• Flowers joined Williams in double figures, scoring 18 points off 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc
• Carter (13 points) rounded out the Hawks' double-digit scorers
• Flowers paced the Hawks with eight rebounds
• The Hawks went 44.4 percent from three (12-of-27) compared to the Retrievers 36.4 percent (8-of-22)
• UMBC held a 33-29 rebounding advantage

 
NEXT ON TAP
The Hawks wrap up its three-game road trip at NJIT on Saturday. Tipoff in Newark, N.J., is set for 7 p.m. For an inside look at Hartford men's basketball, stay with HartfordHawks.com for updates and follow the team on social media: Twitter | Instagram