VESTAL, N.Y. – The University of Hartford men's basketball team turned things around in the second half and completed the series sweep of the Binghamton Bearcats on Wednesday evening with a 76-62 triumph at the Events Center. One of three players to finish in double digit scoring, sophomore Mark Nwakamma scored 15 of his game-best 22 points during the second stanza to lead Hartford to its sixth victory in America East Conference play.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 13-10 overall and 6-4 in the league, marking the program's best 10-game start in conference play since the 2007-08 season. Led by 17 points from Jordan Reed, Binghamton dips to 1-9 in the America East and 3-20 overall.

Nwakamma, who converted on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to keep Binghamton out of reach, finished 8-of-10 from the line and 7-of-11 from the floor en route to his sixth 20-plus point outing since the start of conference play. Classmate Nate Sikma grabbed nine rebounds, tying a career-high, while Yolonzo Moore II assisted of five buckets for the Hawks.

In a game that featured 12 lead changes, an offensive outburst midway through the second half proved to be the difference for the Hawks as they put a halt to the back-and-forth battle and took control. With the score knotted up at 46-46, the fifth tie of the evening, Hartford rattled-off a 17-4 run to go up by 13 points with 5:55 remaining.

Graduate student John Peterson ignited the game-deciding rally for Hartford, draining his fourth triple of the night to break the tie at the 15:25 mark. On the next possession, the Hawks forced a Binghamton turnover and converted on the other end as Wes Cole found Nwakamma for an alley-oop, making the score 51-46 in favor of the visiting squad.

Following a pair free throws from Sikma, Reed ended a spurt of seven unanswered Hartford points after making one-of-two from the line on back-to-back occasions, but that posed no threat to the Hawks as they went on to score 10 of the game's next 12 points to go up, 63-50.

Moore netted six of his nine points during that run, while Sikma and Peterson each contributed buckets to help Hartford push its lead into double digits. Peterson, whose hot 3-of-4, first-half shooting from behind the arc kept the Hawks in the game to start, closed out the night with 16 points, a career-high, on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.

Hartford lived from the free throw line down the stretch, making 11 of its 16 attempts to easily maintain its double digit cushion.

With four three-pointers, Cole rounded out Hartford's top-scorers, netting all 12 of his points in the first half. His last two were delivered in the final two minutes of the half, helping the Hawks erase a three-point deficit and carry a 38-36 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. The 38 points in the opening stanza are a season-high for Hartford, which led by six early but fell victim to an 11-0 Binghamton run and was forced to play from behind for the majority of the half.

Binghamton shot 51.9% (14-of-27) in the first half, but cooled down in the second, going 8-of-22 (36.4%) to finish the game at 44.9%. The Hawks, who won the battle of the boards, 43-31, converted on 46.6% of their shots (27-of-58) and shot the three at 40.0% (8-of-20).

The Hawks return home to host the Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. tip. Tickets are still available by calling 860-768-HAWK. Those who can't make it out to the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion can catch all of the action on ESPN3.