WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball team stunned Connecticut College in a back-and-forth showdown that came down to the final possession, Hawks ultimately taking the win at home 82-81 on a buzzer beater. The Hawks bring their overall record to 7-4 on the season before they pick back up conference play this weekend.

Rapid Recap:

• Hartford came out firing, jumping ahead 9-2 behind early buckets by junior Joshua Petion (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and junior Kyle Winters (Corte Madera, Calif.) before Connecticut College chipped away from deep. Conn College answered with threes, trimming the margin before junior Kaosi Chijioke's (Suwanee, Ga.) jumper in the paint and a kick-out three from  senior Drew Stack (Madison, N.J.) pushed the Hawks back in front. The teams traded runs midway through the half, Winters drilled a big three to cap a 7-0 stretch. The Hawks held their largest lead of the half up seven with eight minutes remaining. The Camels responded in transition, grabbing necessary boards and putting together sequences to bring the score even at 33-33 with 1:34 on the clock. Chijioke finished strong in the final minute with a tip-in basket, sophomore River Eberhardt (Berlin, Conn.) forced a turnover quickly pushing the ball up court to find Chijioke to finish the fast break point. Hawks walk out of the first half, 39-36.
• Hartford stayed close in this second half, trading baskets with the Camels as Winters, Petition, and Stack all contributed in the paint and beyond the arc. The Hawks' bench added key points to keep the team within arms reach, and added clutch free throws to keep it tense. In the final moments, the intensity peaked, Winters drove up the court with less than ten seconds remaining, he attempted a clinching three-pointer, the ball fell off the rim to find the hands of teammate Chijioke. Kaosi calmly puts the jump shot away to seal the 82-81 win over the Camels.

Post Game Press:
"I think tonight we had a lot of unity, the team rallied together to bring us the win," said senior Drew Stack (Madison, N.J.). "One of our main keys in the game play was that we knew that this was a tough team that loves physicality so we made it our job to punch first and stay on the aggressive side. This is a huge win for us and for the program to continue to push us to get better day by day."

"I am proud of our guys tonight and how we stuck with it for the full 40 minutes,"  said Head Coach Aaron Toomey. "We played really well in the first half, they came out with a run of their own but we as a team bounced back. We knew this team had a lot of fire power on offense so we knew we had to hit tough shots and it was all about how we responded."

Inside The Numbers:

• Winters led the Hawks tonight with 24 points (8-16 FG, 4-9 3PT, 4-4 FT) he also added five rebounds and two assists to his stats sheet. Stack held strong for the team tonight tallying 14 points (4-9 FG, 4-9 3PT, 2-4 FT) taking down four rebounds and one assist.
• Chijioke was a powerhouse all over the court today claiming 13 points (6-11 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1-6 FT) he recorded nine rebounds and two assists.
• For the Camels it was James LaFrance to lead with 21 points (6-17 FG, 3-11 3PT, 6-6 FT) grabbing three rebounds and two assists.
• There were 18 lead changes in this in-state match-up along with seven times the score stood even.

Up Next:
The Hawks will pick back up Conference of New England (CNE) play this weekend as they take on Suffolk University this Saturday, January 3rd at 3:00 P.M.