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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered against La Salle on Tuesday night, dropping a 64-51 decision in non-league action at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. Hartford, which was coming off its first win of the season against Sacred Heart last Friday, drops to 1-3 while La Salle improves to 2-1.

Sophomore Mark Nwakamma led the team in both scoring and rebounding for the third time this season, finishing with a game-best 16 points and nine boards. Off the bench, sophomore Wes Cole made 4-of-7 shots, including 3-of-5 from downtown, to notch his second-straight double figure scoring game with 11 points.

After jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead, La Salle continued to charge, building a 16-4 advantage six minutes after the opening tip. During that opening half, the Explorers continued to pull away from Hartford, extending their lead by shooting 60-percent while holding the Hawks to 33-percent conversion from the field.

The Hawks managed to bring that gap back down to single digits and come within four points using a jumper by Nwakamma followed by two-straight threes from Cole, however, the Explorers never allowed the game to come any closer.

With 5:16 remaining, La Salle regained its double digit advantage, would it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game, at 28-18. The Explorers then closed out the stanza with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 18 at 40-22 at the halftime break.

Hartford's defense came alive in the second half as it gave up just 24 points during that final stretch. During that span, the Hawks held Jerrell Wright and Ramon Galloway, who had 14 and 11 first-half points, respectively, to just one field goal.

Also putting up double figures for Hartford was rookie Taylor Dyson, who in his first career appearance, totaled 10 points in eight minutes while missing just one shot. Just 70 seconds after his insertion in the lineup, Dyson drilled the first shot he took, a three pointer, with 7:58 remaining. He then converted on his next two attempts, making back-to-back jumpers within a one minute span, before knocking down one more three-pointer with 32 seconds left to play in the contest.

La Salle had four players put up double figures in the scoring column, paced by Tyreek Duren's 15 points. Wright finished with 14 while Galloway had 13 on the evening. Rohan Brown rounded out the Explorers' top scorers with 10 points and finished with a double-double after pulling down a game-best 12 rebounds.

The Hawks were outrebounded by the Explorers, 36-26, and were held to 36.5-percent (19-of-52) shooting on the evening. La Salle shot at a clip of 47.6-percent (20-of-42). Both teams finished with six three-pointers.

Hartford wraps-up a three-game homestand when it plays host to Central Connecticut State University at 4:00 p.m. The Hawks will look to snap a six-game winless streak against the Blue Devils, who have not played at Chase Family Arena since January 11, 1993.