SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Hartford men's basketball team kicked off the Conference of New England (CNE) schedule on Wednesday night falling to preseason favorite Western New England University by a 80-63. 

Rapid Recap:

• The Hawks and Golden Bears were even at 5-5 after a triple by freshman Troy Santos (Taunton, Mass.) and layup by freshman Chidera George (Atlanta, Ga.). After a pair of buckets by the home team the Hawks took the lead with a 6-0 spurt on threes from sophomore Jaylen Brown (Baldwin, N.Y.) and junior Drew Stack (Madison, N.J.). The Golden Bears took the lead once again headed past the midway point of the half, but Hartford stayed close eventually jumping in front 20-19 on layups by sophomore Zach Skinner (Berlin, Conn.) and sophomore Kaosi Chijioke (Atlanta, Ga.). The Hawks would grow the lead to 32-27 with 4:10 to play in the first half with five-consecutive points going to Santos. A late bucket by the Golden Bears put the home team back in front by a 36-35 score headed into halftime. 
• Hartford was strong to begin the second half scoring six-straight on four free throws and a layup by sophomore Joshua Petion (Brooklyn, N.Y.) as the visitors led 41-36. The teams traded baskets with Hartford staying in front by a single point after a Brown jumper 49-48 with 14:19 left. Western New England punched back with a 15-1 run to storm ahead by a 63-50 lead. Hartford stopped the run with three free throws, but the Golden Bears stayed hot extending the lead to 71-55 with 4:14 to play. Petion, Chijioke and freshman Jaron Broomfield (Bronx, N.Y.) each added buckets as the Golden Bears held on 80-63. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Santos had a good all-around game scoring 14 points (3-10 FG, 1-3 3PT, 7-11  FT), four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Brown notched eight points (3-7 FG, 2-3 3PT) and three rebounds, while Chijioke added eight points (4-11 FG, 0-2 3PT, 0-1 FT), three rebounds and a pair of steals. 
• Tim Restall led all scorers with 27 points (13-21 FG, 1-3 FT) to with seven rebounds and three steals for the Golden Bears. Brian Geitner added 20 points (8-16 FG, 4-9 3PT) and three rebounds. 
• Western New England won the glass out rebounding the Hawks by a 45-25 margin with 19 second chance points. 
• Hartford did a good job getting to the free throw line going 16-25 from the charity stripe compared to 2-7 from the Golden Bears. 

Up Next: 
The Hawks will host the University of New England on Saturday with a 3:00 PM start. 

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