WEST HARTFORD, CONN. The Hawks took on the Colonels of Curry College at home this Saturday evening in a Conference of New England matchup (CNE).  Curry College came out on top in a nail-biter, 70-68. 

Rapid Recap:

• Hartford kicked off the scoring in the game as freshman Cooper Galdenzi (Clinton, CT) knocked down a fastbreaklayup coming off an assist from freshman Troy Santos (Taunton, MA). The teams continued to battle back and forth throughout the first half as the game was tied at six apiece after the first four and a half minutes. Sophomore Drew Stack would be issued a technical foul for flopping and the technical free throw would put the Colonels up one. Santos would quickly knock the game back to even knocking down a deep three point bomb. Curry would go on to score five straight unanswered over the next 10 minutes, putting the score at 22-17 with a little over six minutes in the first half. The Hawks would inch their way back into the game as freshman Reggie Selden (Franklinville, NJ) would score a layup, and Galdenzi would draw a foul from the three point line and knock down all three free throws. Sophomore Kaosi Chijoke (Atlanta, GA) would draw a foul and split the free throws to put the Hawks down one. But a pair of back to back threes for the Colonels put them up six with 2:10 to go in the first half. Shawn Charles owned the paint in the first half scoring back to back dunks to put the Colonels up eight going into the second half.
• Hartford came out the gate looking like a different team, as Stack, who was quiet in the first half, knocked down a couple of big time threes, that along with a layup from sophomore Josh Petion (Brooklyn, NY)  put the Hawks within two. Another Stack tre put Hartford up one with just under 17 left to play. The Colonels would fight back as Shawn Charles continued to pound the paint and Hartford battled to maintain their lead. Freshman Jaron Broomfield would knock down a pull-up jumper to put the Hawks up four with 11:26 to go. Curry's knock down shooting would plague the Hawks as the lead would change once again and Curry went up two with just under 10 left. Broomfield knocked down two free throws and Galdenzi hit a huge three off a second chance opportunity to put the Hawks up 3 54-51 with 8:54 left. The Hawks would maintain the lead over the next several minutes but we would see yet another lead change at the 3:56 mark as a fastbreak layup gave Curry the advantage. This would soon be spoiled by Santos' step back three-pointer that put the lead back in Hartford's favor. The game would once again find itself tied with three minutes left, but Curry would secure a four point lead late in the game. A layup from Petion would put the Hawks within two. Stack would miss a three point attempt that would've given Hartford the lead, and after a missed 1 & 1 free throw from Curry, the halfcourt heave from Petion would nearly miss off the backboard. Curry would take it 70-68.

Inside the Numbers:

• Three Hawks lead the team in scoring with 15 a piece. Stack (5-17 FG, 4-15 3PT,) also finished with four rebounds. Galdenzi (5-11 FG, 1-4 3PT) also grabbed nine rebounds, and three steals. Petion (6-12 FG, 0-1 3PT) finished with a double-double grabbing eleven boards, as well as two steals and a block. Santos finished with 10 Points (4-10 FG, 2-6 3PT) nine assists, and two steals. Chijoke scored five points (1-12 FG, 0-4 3PT), five rebounds, and an assist. Broomfield also scored five points (2-6 FG, 1-4 3PT), as well as grabbing seven rebounds, and a steal. 
• Favour Okeke lead the Colonels in scoring with 18 (5-12 FG, 3-6 3PT), to go along with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot. 
• The game went back and forth as there were nine lead changes and 11 times tied. 
• Curry College shot 45.9% from the field as a team. 

Up Next:

The Hawks will travel to Boston, MA to take on Suffolk University in another Conference of New England bout, on Wednesday Jan. 15th, at 7:30PM.

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