Men’s College Basketball

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Led by junior guard Jack Ayer’s 27-point effort, the University of Hartford men’s basketball team kept the University of Maine in a tailspin in the North Atlantic Conference by posting an 88-76 victory over the Black Bears Thursday night at the UH Sports Center.

The win boosted Hartford’s record to 10-12 overall, 4-6 in NAC play.

Maine, which has lost four of its last five league games, dipped to 11-10, also 4-6 in the NAC. The Bears next play Saturday at Vermont.

Hartford’s second win of the season over the Bears means if the two finish in their current tie for fourth, the Hawks will earn the homecourt advantage in the postseason tournament.

Ayer killed Maine from the foul line, hitting 13 of 14 free throws. Senior swingman David Pritikin added 20 points for the Hawks, including four of five accuracy on 3-pointers. And 6-foot-11 senior center Vin Baker, the nation’s leading Division I scorer at the start of the week (29.8 ppg), struggled to 15 points.

Maine got 18 points from 6-8 junior forward Francois Bouchard and 15 more from junior guard Deonte Hursey. Maine leading scorer Casey Arena was held to seven points on 2-for-8 floor accuracy.

After leading by only 36-34 at the half, Hartford steadily pulled away from Maine in the second period.

A bench technical foul on Maine before the second half even started sent Ayer to the line for two foul shots. He made both and Hartford also had the possession. Baker connected on a jumper from the lane to put the Hawks ahead 40-34 only 10 seconds into the period.

An Ayer fastbreak layup and Steve Campbell tip-in gave the Hawks their first 10-point lead (57-47) with 11:40 left in the game.

The Hawks maintained around a 10-point edge until the closing minutes.

Pritikin ignited an 11-3 Hawks run with a 3-pointer with 3:56 remaining. A fastbreak layup by Roderick, two foul shots each by Ayer and Shawn Ellison, and a Pritikin fastbreak layup put Hartford ahead 79-61 with 2:07 to play.

Maine got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way as the Hawks hit seven of 10 free throws in the last two minutes to hold the Bears at bay.

The Hawks shot 67 percent from the floor in the second half against Maine’s switching defenses. Meanwhile, Maine was shooting 43 percent against the Hawks.

Hawks 88, Black Bears 76

Hartford men Maine

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Pritikin 10 7 2 2 20 Hursey 13 6 3 3 15

Ayer 10 6 14 13 27 Arena 8 2 4 2 7

Baker 17 6 6 3 15 Bouchard 13 7 7 4 18

Roderick 4 3 2 2 9 Jones 9 3 2 0 6

Bond 5 1 0 0 2 Terrell 5 3 0 0 7

Campbell 1 1 0 0 2 Marseille 6 4 0 0 8

Reilly 2 2 0 0 4 Hunt 4 3 3 1 7

Ellison 1 1 8 5 7 Collins 4 2 0 0 4

Stuckey 0 0 1 0 0 Hillman 1 0 4 4 4

Curtis 1 0 0 0 0 Kearson 1 0 0 0 0

Spence 0 0 2 2 2 Elder 0 0 0 0 0

Truesdale 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 51 27 35 27 88 Totals 64 30 23 14 76

Hartford 36 88

Maine 34 76

3-pt. goals: Hartford (7-12): Pritikin 4-5, Ayer 2-3, Roderick 1-1, Baker 0-3; Maine (2-7): Arena 1-4, Terrell 1-1, Bouchard 0-2