Jan. 13, 2007

Final Stats

West Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford men's basketball team rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to rally past Stony Brook, 50-47, in America East action on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Seawolves drop to 6-10, 1-3 in America East play while Hartford improves to 9-7, 3-1.

"We cannot score 47 points in a basketball game and expect to win," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "We shot just 25% in the second half and couldn't make baskets when we really needed to."

The Seawolves started the game off strong, forcing five Hawk turnovers and grabbing a 13-4 lead just over six minutes into the game. Stony Brook would go on to lead by as much as 10 in the first half after Mike Popoko scored down low to make it a 23-13 SB advantage. The Seawolves forced nine turnovers in the first half and held the Hawks to just 22% shooting (6-27) and 1-of-11 from downtown. The Seawolves went into the locker with a 25-16 advantage, the fourth straight game they have led after the first stanza.

After a Kyle Wright three from the right hand side gave Stony Brook a 31-20 lead with 16:18 to play, the Seawolves would not score another field goal in the next 6:07. During the Seawolves drought, Hartford would go on a 12-1 run, tying the game at 32 points apiece. A pair of Jaret Von Rosenberg free throws with 8:28 left in the contest gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, 37-35. The Hawks would maintain that lead until Eddie Castellanos tossed up a three from 26 feet out as the shot clock expired, knotting the game at 42 with 4:42 to play. Von Rosenberg put the Hawks back on top with another pair from the charity stripe, only to have a Ricky Lucas jumper even the score at 44. Down the stretch it was all Von Roserberg as he put the Hawks up for good with a three at the 3:13 mark and tallied eight of Hartford's final 10 points. After Bo Taylor missed a pair from the line with 1:02 left, Tre Cunningham banked in a three to cut the Hawks lead to three with 50 ticks on the clock. Taylor would turn the ball over on a shot clock violation with 14 seconds left, giving the Seawolves one last chance. Lucas' three-pointer as time expired rimmed out as the Hawks claimed the victory.

Lucas, the America East Player of the Game for Stony Brook, was the lone Seawolf to score in double figures as he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Wright recorded eight points and seven rebounds and Popoko finished with six points and eight boards.

Von Rosenberg was the AE Player of the Game for Hartford as he tallied a game-high 21 points, 18 of which came in the second stanza. Taylor finished with 13 points in the game.

Stony Brook wraps up its two-game road swing when it takes on Albany on Monday evening in the State Capital. Tip-off against the rival Great Danes is slated for 7:00 p.m.