WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball faced off against #22 Endicott College this Saturday ultimately falling 92-83. With this loss, the Hawks season record now stands at 9-5 overall and 3-2 in Conference of New England (CNE) play.

Rapid Recap:

• The Hawks opened with strength as sophomore River Eberhardt (Berlin, Conn.) earned a charge forcing the Gulls' first possession to end scoreless. Junior Kaosi Chijioke (Suwanee, Ga.) added the first points to the board with a contested three. The two teams traded points early in the first half, junior Kyle Winters (Corte Madera, Calif.) orchestrated two equalizer plays both driving up the lane to bring the score at ten a piece. Eberhardt and senior Drew Stack (Madison, N.J.) pushed the Hawks above the Gulls to a five-point lead 22-17. The Gulls found their rhythm matching their points to find the teams into another standstill with less than nine minutes remaining at 28-28. The Gulls created some distance forcing turnovers from the Hawks' hands with heavy pressure and sinking big shots beyond the arc, building a strong ten-point lead. Sophomore Leonard Pelzer (Berlin, Germany) entered the game late making a difference with key rebounds and driving layups to chip away at their lead. The teams ended the half, Gulls still up 48-41. 
• Chijioke in similar first half fashion opened up the second half with a dominant three-pointer off a swift pass from Winters cross-court. Matt Boen for Endicott continued to match the Hawks' points with tallies of their own. The Hawks struggled to build sequences and pieces that connected at the rim. While, the Gulls made it look easy driving up the lane and earning trips to the line. The Gulls built their lead back up to ten just five minutes into the second half, 66-56. Sophomore Jaron Broomfield (Bronx, N.Y.) stepped up in this second half putting away key shots, one was a triple set up by freshman Ben Miller (Milford, Conn.) and the other was created dancing around Gulls carrying the ball to the basket. With this work it seemed to not amount the efforts happening at the other end of the court, the Gulls maintained their distance at 82-64 with under eight minutes remaining. The Gulls were aggressive all over the court, the Hawks were unable to halt their speed without sending them to the free-throw line. Winters dropped in a big three-pointer in an attempt to shift the trajectory of this game bringing down the Gulls lead to ten with just three minutes on the board. Despite great efforts by the team the Hawks were unable to break down their lead and ended the night short, 92-83.

Inside The Numbers:

• The Hawks were lead by Winters this evening putting up an impressive 25 points (9-20 FG, 2-5 3PT, 5-5 FT) taking down six boards, and pushing four assists. Next to lead was Eberhardt tallying 14 points (5-12 FG, 2-3 3PT, 2-2 FT) tying his season high at ten rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
• Endicott's leader was Marcus Montagnino with 31 points (12-29 FG, 0-6 3PT, 7-7 FT) along with five assists, 11 rebounds, and one steal to give the team the win.
• Hartford continues to be solid at the free-throw line as they shot 93.8% at the line compared to Endicott's 65%.

Up Next:
The Hawks will pick back up CNE play as they travel to Milton, Mass. to take on Curry College this Wednesday, January 14th with a tip-off at 7:30 P.M.

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