NASHUA, N.H. - The University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped to 0-2 on Tuesday night falling to Rivier University by a 72-61 final. 

Rapid Recap:

• Reigning Conference of New England (CNE) rookie of the week freshman Troy Santos (Taunton, Mass.) kicked off the game with a jumper. The Raiders would take a 5-3 lead five minutes into the game, but junior Drew Stack (Madison, N.J.) drilled a 30-foot three to give Hartford the early 6-5 advantage. The Hawks continued to stay in the lead after an and-one bucket by sophomore Jaylen Brown (Baldwin, N.Y.) and a fiery dunk by freshman Chidera George (Atlanta, Ga.). The home team would respond with an 8-0 spurt to take the 20-13 lead with 8:06 to play in the half. It would be the Hawks turn to go on a run scoring the next 13 points highlighted by six points for Santos as Hartford was in front 26-20. The Raiders caught back up evening the game at 31-31, but the Hawks closed strong with back-to-back buckets by sophomore Joshua Petion (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to take a 35-33 lead into the break. 
• It was all Rivier to kick off the second half going on a 18-0 run to take a 51-35 lead. Santos ended the run with an old fashioned three-point play, Troy would add a three-pointer on the next possession to trim the deficit to 12 points with 13:17 to play. The Raiders continue to control the game in the second half pushing the lead to a game-high 20 points with 3:52 to play. Hartford would make a late push scoring the final nine points in the game, but it was not enough falling by a 72-61 margin. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Sophomore Kaosi Chijioke (Atlanta, Ga.) registered 13 points (6-14 FG, 3-4 3PT, 1-1 FT), seven rebounds and three assists in the loss. Santos tallied 16 points (6-14 FG, 3-4 3PT, 1-1 FT), seven rebounds and three assists, while Petion posted eight points (3-10 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-4 FT) and six rebounds. 
• Odarius Cade led the Raiders with 16 points (7-15 FG, 1-6 3PT, 1-2 FT), four steals and four rebounds. Joey Merrill added 15 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-2 FT), four rebounds and three steals. 
• Rivier forced 21 Hawk turnovers in the game getting 23 points off of the turnovers, while Hartford forced 15 turnovers getting 15 points off of those turnovers. The Raiders also dominated the painted area with a 40-24 advantage. 

Up Next: 
The Hawks will travel to Vermont on Saturday to take on Vermont State University - Johnson at 3:00 PM. 

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