Sikma pulls up for three as nothing was stopping the big man from stepping up when the Hawks needed him most. Brian Izzo | The Informer
The (17-12) Hartford Men’s Basketball team has been on a roll since their win over (7-16) New Hampshire, 49-44 on the 20th of last month.
Hawks pair Mark Nwakamma and Nate Sikma would lead their team in the win scoring a combined 23 points and 13 rebounds breaking the losing streak.
Hartford would stay at home for their next game, which was against (6-21) UMBC.
The Hawks would grab the easy 12 point victory over UMBC led by John Peterson, who received the starting role in the game finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Nwakamma added 11 points.
Hartford would try to keep their winning streak alive playing their final game of the regular season on the road against a tough (19-9) Vermont team, which beat UHa at home 49-43 earlier this year.
The Hawks would begin the game on a 5-0 run, but Vermont would slowly start scoring keeping the game in arm’s reach.
With 12:10 to play in the first quarter, Hartford’s Evan Cooper would increase the lead to six on a three-point field goal.
The Hawks would stay up by at least one possession until Vermont’s Brian Voelkel tied the game at 16 on a three-point play off of a layup.
After the game was tied for a second time at 18, the Catamounts would go on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the half.
Hartford would come back to take the lead by one on a three and a couple of free throws by Nate Sikma with 4:07 to play.
The game would see-saw back and forth with Vermont taking the slight advantage at halftime with a 32-31 lead. The Hawks would come out strong in the second half, not only taking back their lead, but extending it on an 8-0 run to go up 46-37 with 12:24 left in the game.
The Catamounts would cut the lead to one off a three by Luke Apfeld, but theit comeback would be denied after Hartford’s Wes Cole would nail a three-pointer on the other end.
Vermont wasn’t shaken though still cutting the Hawks lead eventually to two after a couple of clutch free throws by Trey Blue with 1:25 to play.
After a couple of missed shots by both teams, Catamounts’ Apfeld would tip a shot in with 33 seconds left on the game clock tying the score at 58.
As the clock quickly counted down, the Hawks looked frantically for an open opportunity to put up a shot, in which it looked like the game would end up going to overtime.
After a quick give and go pass by Yolonzo Moore II to Nate Sikma with less than two seconds left, Sikma put up an open three from the corner and hit it as time expired.
The Hawks bench went wild as the shot would count and Hartford would pull out the win 61-58.
Hartford’s leading scorers were Yolonzo Moore II with 16 points, while dishing out six assists and Sikma with 15 points including four three-point baskets.
Leading the Catamounts was Blue with 12 points and Luke Apfeld with 10.
Even though Vermont outscored the Hawks off the bench and in the paint, Hartford hit 12 shots from long distance, while the Catamounts only made three.
This win snapped a 15 game losing streak to Vermont, which has lasted for over seven seasons.
This is Hartford’s 17 win tying the school record, which was set back in the 1989-90 season. This is also the Hawks 10 conference win and first season over .500 in the last five years.
This coming weekend is the beginning of the America East Tournament, which is located in the SEFCU Arena at the University of Albany.
Third place Hartford will play its first game this Saturday against sixth place UMBC, a team that they recently played and beat by a substantial margin.
Hartford played UMBC earlier in the year as well and lost by a small amount as they look to move on.
Tipoff will begin at 2:00 p.m.