NIAGARA UNIV. N.Y. – Playing on the road for its third-straight game, the University of Hartford men's basketball team dropped a 75-59 decision at Niagara at the 'Taps' Gallagher Center on Wednesday night. Sophomore forward Mark Nwakamma led the Hawks with 14 points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field while finishing with seven rebounds and two steals.

The loss brings Hartford's record down to 5-5 while Niagara moves to 4-6 on the season. Ameen Tanksley paced the Purple Eagles in the win, finishing with a double-double after scoring 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Antoine Mason led all scorers on the evening with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.

Despite a turnover-riddled opening 10 minutes for both teams, which saw 12 combined giveaways during that span, the Hawks dictated the tempo early as a three off the right hand of Wes Cole provided the visiting team with a four-point lead at 11-4 with 11:57 left in the first.

After that bucket, however, Niagara picked up the pace and took control, scoring 19 of the game's next 21 points to go ahead, 26-13, with just over four minutes remaining until halftime.

Freshman Taylor Dyson stopped the bleeding for the Hawks, ending a streak of 14 unanswered Niagara points with a deep three pointer to cut the deficit to 10 at the 3:48 mark. After each team exchanged a pair of baskets, the Purple Eagles closed out the half by outscoring the Hawks, 9-2. A banked-in three-pointer at the buzzer by T.J. Cline sent the home team into the locker room with a comfortable 17-point lead at 37-20.

During that opening stanza, the Hawks struggled to get into an offensive groove against the Purple Eagles' matchup zone, shooting just 27.6 percent (8-of-29) to start the game.

Niagara carried its rally into the second half, scoring nine of the first 11 points to go up 24, its largest lead of the game, at 46-22 with 16:47 left to play.

The shots continued to fall in favor of the Purple Eagles, as they opened up the next 10 minutes by shooting a blistering 71 percent from the field while making all but one of their six attempts from downtown. That allowed Niagara to maintain its 24-point advantage up to the midway point of the second stanza.

The Hawks picked up the tempo and began to cut into their deficit, first using a 7-0 spurt to make it a 62-45 ball game with 8:38 on the clock. Evan Cooper, a freshman, started the run by making 3-of-4 from the free throw line before sophomore Corban Wroe snagged a steal at midcourt and laid it up on the other end for his fourth point of the evening. Nwakamma capped things off with an up-and-under move under the hoop to close the gap to 18.

Things were running smoother on the defensive end for Hartford as well, as it held its opponents without a field goal for more than six minutes. After Ameen Tanksley made the front end of a one-and-one, the Hawks reeled off seven more unanswered points, bringing their deficit down to 13 points at 65-52 with 6:17 left to play. Grad student John Peterson tallied all five of his points during that span, hitting a jumper to start the run before finishing it off with a three-pointer.

The Hawks continued to plug away, coming within 10 points of the Purple Eagles with 3:44 to go. Sophomore Wes Cole's three made it 67-57, however, Niagara closed out the game by scoring seven of the final nine points to seal the contest.

Hartford's shooting improved drastically in the second half, as it converted on 15-of-27 shots (55.6 percent) during that stretch. The Hawks closed out the game shooting at a clip of 41.1 percent, while Niagara was 50.0 percent on the evening.

Turnovers plagued the Hawks in the outing, as the 22 miscues were the most by the team all season.

Hartford concludes its four-game road swing when it travels to the Lone Star State for a Saturday evening non-conference clash at Rice (Dec. 15). The inaugural meeting between the Hawks and Owls will begin at 8:00 p.m.