The University of Hartford placed six players in double figures and overcame an early 11-point deficit while registering an 86-68 America East men’s basketball victory over the University of Maine on Thursday night at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Hartford spotted UMaine an 11-0 lead out of the gate, but the Hawks shot 48 percent from the floor, including 46 percent from the 3-point arc, to overcome the offensively-challenged Black Bears.
The visitors connected on 11 of 25 shots from long distance, spearheaded by J.R. Lynch, who tossed in a team-leading 15 points and went 3-for-6 from the arc, and Jack Hobbs, who hit 4 of 6 from the 3-point line and finished with 14 points. Lynch completed a double-double by handing out 10 assists.
Jason Dunne tallied 12 points for Hartford (11-9, 4-2 AE), which received 11 points each from John Carroll and George Blagojevic and 10 more from Travis Weatherington.
Junior guard Aaron Calixte spearheaded the attack for UMaine (4-17, 1-5 AE) and led all scorers with 21 points, while Vernon Lowndes Jr. and Isaiah White tallied nine points each.
The Black Bears shot 43 percent overall, but clanged their way to a 5-for-29 (17 percent) effort from the 3-point line. Hartford notched 20 assists to 10 for UMaine and scored 29 points as the result of 16 turnovers by the hosts.
The Black Bears managed only 18 points off 17 Hartford miscues.
Hartford led by only five points at intermission, but outscored UMaine 18-2 during the first seven minutes of the second half while manufacturing a 24-point advantage.
The Black Bears twice were able to cut the deficit to 12 points, but each time the Hawks answered and maintained a healthy cushion.
The Black Bears bolted to an 11-0 lead, but the Hawks recovered and outscored the hosts 38-22 over the last 17:09 of the half while building themselves a 38-33 halftime lead.
Hartford shot 50 percent from the field to help overcome 10 turnovers. However, UMaine also struggled with turnovers and committed eight, which led to 15 points by the hosts.
The Black Bears started quickly as layups by Andrew Fleming and Calixte, White’s jumper and an Ilija Stojiljkovic hit a 3-pointer to give them a 9-0 lead only 2:15 into the contest. Stojiljkovic added a layup 34 seconds later to push UMaine’s lead to 11-0.
Hartford finally got things clicking about eight minutes in. Dunne’s jumper at the 12:41 mark kicked off an extended 19-5 run that gave the Hawks a 26-22 edge on a Weatherington layup off a Lynch steal with 6:09 remaining.
The Hawks went in front by as many as seven points (31-24) on a Carroll 3-pointer at the 4:57 mark.