Feb. 19, 2003
Box Score
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Hartford men's basketball team put an emphatic stop to its recent shooting woes Wednesday night, as the Hawks shot a season-high 64 percent from the field to down Stony Brook, 72-64, at the Chase Family Arena.
Junior Ryan Stys (Hooksett, NH), who came of the bench for only the second time in his career, scored a season-high 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and tied a career high with five steals. Classmate Jerell Parker (Chicago, IL) was 6 of 7 from the floor and finished with 16 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Stony Brook's D.J. Munir and Cori Spencer each had 15 points to lead the Seawolves.
Hartford evened its overall record at 12-12 and improved to 7-6 in the America East. The Hawks move into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Northeastern and Binghamton. Stony Brook dropped to 12-12 overall and 6-7 in the conference.
Hartford held the 35-31 lead after a very competitive first half. Stony Brook led by as many as five points midway through the stanza, the biggest lead any team could muster in the first half. Trailing 19-14 with 10:58 to go in the half, Hartford battled back to take the lead on a three-pointer by Stys at the 5:43 mark to make it 25-24. The lead then went back and forth four times before Hartford held to the slim four-point lead entering the intermission.
Both Stys and Spencer had 10 points by the break. Hartford shot 65 percent as a team in the first half, but Stony Brook countered by shooting 45 percent and forcing 11 turnovers.
The second half was much of the same, as Hartford couldn't extend its lead until roughly the 10-minute mark. A steal by Stys and assist to senior Pierre Johnson (Glenarden, MD) gave the Hawks an eight point lead, and after Stony Brook answered with a basket, Johnson came right back with a pair of layups to make it 59-49 with 9:56 to go. Hartford held a double-digit cushion for the majority of the final 10 minutes and sealed the win on a pair of free throws by Parker with under a minute to play.
Stony Brook shot 52 percent in the second half to finish at 48 percent for the game. The Seawolves also owned the advantage on the glass, 27-24, and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds. Hartford's shooting percentage was the highest for a single game in the three years under head coach Larry Harrison.
Johnson finished with seven points for the game, two shy of the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Freshman Aaron Cook (Randallstown, MD), making the first start of his career in place of Stys, finished with 10 points. Stys had made 63 consecutive starts and last came off the bench on February 1, 2001 against Maine.
