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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team rebounded from a two-game skid by pulling out a 49-44 victory over visiting New Hampshire in front of 2,263 fans at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on Wednesday evening. Sophomore Mark Nwakamma scored 12 points and classmate Nate Sikma added 11 to help push the Hawks to 8-6 in America East action and 15-12 overall.

Hartford, which has the most wins since the 2007-08 season, will have one week to recharge its batteries as it returns to action on Thurs., Feb. 28 at home against UMBC.

Wednesday night's game proved to be a signature UNH (7-17, 3-10 AE) vs. Hartford matchup, as nine of the last 10 games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less, with four of those outings seeing just three points separating the squads.

Hartford and UNH combined to put just 30 points up on the scoreboard in the opening half with each squad shooting under the 25.0 percent mark in that span. Behind nine points and six boards from Sikma, Hartford led, 18-12, at the break despite making just a quarter of its shots (7-of-28), including a rough stretch from three-point territory where it was 11.1 percent (1-of-9) to start.

The Wildcats started the game off even colder, shooting 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from the floor in first. During that span, just three players contributed to UNH's offense with Chandler Rhoads and Logan Mortenson scoring five points apiece and Chris Matagrano adding a layup. Rhoads totaled a game-high 16 points in the game, going 6-of-17 from the field in 37 minutes.

Out of the intermission, the Hawks quickly extended their advantage to 11 just two minutes in as sophomore Evan Cooper converted on the old-fashioned three-point play and off a Hartford steal on the ensuing possession, Oren Faulk tipped-in a missed layup to make it 23-12.

With 13:36 to go, Hartford led, 30-19, but saw its 11-point cushion quickly whittle down to a single point following an 11-1 UNH spurt. During that span, Patrick Konan netted nine of his 11 points for the Wildcats, all from downtown, including back-to-back treys that closed the gap to one point for the visitors.

The Hawks managed to extend their lead back to six points thanks to a jumper from Nwakamma, who was sidelined for a good chunk of the game with foul trouble, followed by a three from Parker U'u. The momentum, however, did not remain in favor of Hartford as UNH quickly went off for seven unanswered points, with a three ball from Rhoads pushing the Wildcats ahead for the first time in the game at 37-36.

The lead see-sawed back and forth again before Matagrano again put UNH ahead by one point from the free throw line with 5:21 left to play.

UNH was unable build upon its edge as Sikma reclaimed the lead in favor of Hartford at 40-39 following a pair of made free throws on the ensuing possession at the 4:58 mark. From there, the two teams were silent for the next two minutes before John Peterson ended the drought with a deep three-pointer with 2:46 left, pushing the Hawks' advantage back to four at 43-39.

With 75 seconds remaining in regulation, UNH kept it interesting as Pelcher scored on a second-chance opportunity to make it a two point game. The game was sealed at the free throw line where Cooper made two-of-two with 20 seconds remaining and following a three-point play from Rhoads, Nwakamma made all four of his attempts to provide the 49-44 final.

Hartford shot a season-low from the field, going just 28.8 percent (15-of-52). From the free throw line, the Hawks converted on 15-of-17 of their attempts to finish at 88.2 percent. UNH improved on its first half performance from the floor and closed out the game shooting at a clip of 32.0 percent (16-of-50).

Yolonzo Moore II had three steals and Sikma pulled down a game-best eight boards.