BALTIMORE, Md.  – The University of Hartford men's basketball team picked up its fourth-straight win on Monday afternoon after defeating UMBC, 65-63, in America East action at RAC Arena. The Hawks improve to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in the conference while the Retrievers drop to 2-16, 0-5 in the America East with their seventh-straight loss.

Senior guard Corban Wroe had a hot hand for the Hawks, who combined to shoot 51.2-percent (22-of-43) as a team, including a 50.0-percent effort (9-of-18) from long range. Making his first six shots, three of which came from long range, he finished with a career-high 23 points. Also adding to the highlights was classmate Yolonzo Moore II, who became the 25th member of the Hawks' 1,000-Point Club on a free throw that put Hartford up, 62-58, with 15.2 seconds remaining. He went on to finish the game with seven points.

The Hawks held three double-digit leads in the game, including a 10-point edge at 60-50 with 3:29 left. Already coming back from 12 points down early in the second to tie up the game at 45-45 midway through the stanza, the Retrievers attempted another comeback in the final three minutes, but the Hawks iced the game from the free throw line to seal the win.

Junior Taylor Dyson made four shots from downtown to finish with 14 points while senior Mark Nwakamma rounded out the Hawks' top scorers with 10 points for his 11th-straight double-figure scoring game. Wayne Sparrow poured-in a game-best 24 points for UMBC, knocking down six three-pointers.

The Hawks return to action with a home game on Thursday night against the Albany Great Danes. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Chase Family Arena.

THE TURNING POINT:
Seeing a 12-point lead turn into a tied game at 45-45 with 9:43 left, Hartford rattled off a 15-5 run to regain a double-digit edge at 60-50 with 3:29 to go. The Retrievers made it interesting down the stretch, though, as a three-pointer from Wayne Sparrow sparked an 8-0 run that made it a two-point Hartford lead (60-58) with 24.1 seconds on the clock. The Hawks iced the game at the charity stripe, going 5-of-6 to hold off UMBC.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

·         Hartford wiped out a 5-4 UMBC edge by rattling off a 22-8 run that put the visitors up by 15 at 28-13 with 7:25 remaining. With a 9-0 rally followed by a 10-0 spurt contributing to that offensive explosion, the Hawks nailed four three-pointers during that stretch and received eight points from Corban Wroe and six from Nwakamma.

·         UMBC cut into Hartford's lead before the end of the half, closing out the stanza by scoring 13 of the final 18 points to make it a 33-26 Hawks' lead at the break. Wayne Sparrow scored all six of his first-half points during that stretch.

·         Hartford went up by double digits two more times in the second half of action, seeing a 12 point, 41-29 lead evaporate as a 16-4 Retrievers' run tied up the game at 45-all with 9:43 left.

·         The Hawks went on to push their lead back into double digits, as Taylor Dyson and Corban Wroe hit back-to-back three-pointers before a Wroe layup made it a 60-50 advantage with 3:29 to go.

·         In the closing minutes, UMBC cut it to two at 60-58 with an 8-0 run before the Hawks put the game away at the free throw line with a 5-of-6 effort. Wayne Sparrow knocked down a deep three-pointer with just one tick of the clock remaining, but it was too little, too late. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

·         The Hawks came out of the gates on fire, making 10 of their first 11 shots to help build a double-digit advantage midway through the first

·         In the first half, Hartford cranked out a season-best effort from the floor by going 58.3-percent (14-of-24)

·         Behind a perfect 4-of-4 clip, including a 2-of-2 effort from downtown, senior Corban Wroe compiled 11 first-half points to lead all scorers at the break

·         Wroe went on to make his first six shots from the floor and finished 8-of-9 on the afternoon, 4-of-5 from three, for a career-best 23 points

·         On the afternoon, the Hawks shot at a 51.2-percent clip (22-of-43) and went 50.0-percent from three on a 9-of-18 effort

·         UMBC closed out the game shooting 45.5-percent (20-of-44) with a 52.6-percent clip from long range (10-of-19) 

NEWS AND NOTES: 

·         Hartford improves to 13-12 all-time against UMBC with its first win at RAC Arena since a 76-70 victory on Feb. 7, 2012

·         The Hawks extend their win streak to four games with Monday's win at UMBC

·         Hartford's 4-1 start to America East play ties the program's best five-game league start since the inception of the conference in 1995-96; the 1996-97 team also went 4-1 to open up conference play

·         Sinking two free throws that gave Hartford a four-point edge (62-58) with 15.2 seconds left, senior Yolonzo Moore II scored his 1,000th point, becoming the 25th Hartford men's basketball player to reach the milestone

·         The duo of Moore and classmate Mark Nwakamma are the first teammates to have 1,000-plus points since Morgan Sabia and Joe Zeglinski in the 2010-11 season

·         Nwakamma added 10 points for his 11th-straight game in double figures

·         Netting a career-high 23 points, senior Corban Wroe has notched double figures in scoring in four of his last five outings; he has seven double-digit scoring games this season and 14 on his career

·         Hartford's last three wins have been close calls as it beat UNH by one (68-67) and topped UMass Lowell in overtime (68-62) before scoring Monday's two-point win

UP NEXT:
Hartford kicks off a two-game homestand on Thursday night when it welcomes reigning America East champion Albany to the Chase Family Arena for a 7 p.m. tip. Tickets for the game can be purchased by calling 860.768.HAWK, by visiting www.HartfordHawks.com, or by visiting the Malcolm and Brenda Berman Athletic Ticket Office inside of the SportsCenter.