EASTON, Pa. – A furious second-half comeback came up just short Tuesday night as the Hartford men’s basketball team fell to Lafayette, 86-82. Andres Torres set a career-high for a second-consecutive game, pouring in 18 points to lead the Hawks. Hartford rallied from a 22-point deficit in the first half to tie the game several times in the second stanza, but could never take a lead.
A season-best five Hawks finished in double figures as the team hit a season-high for offensive production. The balanced attack featured ten scorers in total.
From the opening tip, Lafayette was hitting on all cylinders with their long range offense. After the Hawks rebounded from a quick 9-3 deficit to pull back within one, the Leopards turned the pressure back up. Before long, they led 31-14. The lead would extend to as large as 50-28 in the first half before Joe Zeglinski drained an NBA-range three-pointer just before the horn.
Morgan Sabia did his part to keep the Hawks in it early, draining 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and finishing the half with ten points.
The second half was a completely different story. This time it was the Hawks coming out punching, cutting the deficit under 15 before a minute had gone by. They continued to chip away at the Leopards’ lead until a frenzied sequence drew them even with 7:07 to play.
After junior Joel Bakers missed a free throw, junior Milton Burton corralled the rebound and put it back. The Hawks quickly regained possession on a Lafayette offensive foul, with Burton again finishing off a layup to pull Hartford within two points. Burton finished with 14 points. A second straight offensive foul from Lafayette had the Hawks’ bench leaping out of their chairs, and Barkers drove to the hoop, powering his way in for a layup to draw the Hawks even at 66-66.
Lafayette called a timeout to regroup, and regained a three-point advantage. With time running down on the Hartford shot clock, Andres Torres heaved a 25-foot desperation shot that made a beeline for the hoop, once again knotting the score.
The teams continued to trade baskets, and the score was once again deadlocked at 75 when Lafayette finally began to pull away. Even as the Hawks found themselves down, they were not out. A five-point deficit with under 30 seconds to go was cut to two when Barkers hit his first career three-pointer, a teardrop that found nothing but net from the top of the key to give him 12 points for the game. Hartford could get no closer, though, and Lafayette hit just enough free throws to made an 86-82 score hold up.
With fouls mounting throughout the second half, the Hawks built their comeback largely thanks to the efforts of reserves who have seen limited action during the early part of the season. The star of the first half, Sabia reached three fouls early in the second and junior Kevin Estes displayed defensive tenacity down low. He had a crucial block late in the second half on a seemingly-open Lafayette layup attempt that led to points for the Hawks. Estes added four points of his own in a season-high 17 minutes.
Charles White also played eight minutes in the second half, finishing with four points and helping keep the once-deadly long-range shooters from Lafayette at bay. Freshman Ryan Baker knocked down a 10-foot jumper from the baseline for his first collegiate points.
Hartford will be back in action after the Thanksgiving holiday when they travel to Dartmouth to take on the Big Green on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m.