The University of Hartford men’s basketball team beat the Bryant Bulldogs in Smithfield, RI, Wednesday night.

Submitted by the University of Hartford

A career night from senior George Blagojevic propelled the Hartford men’s basketball team to a commanding 91-74 win at Bryant on Wednesday night. Blagojevic posted his second career double-double, scoring a career-high 30 points while grabbing a game-best 15 rebounds, to pace the Hawks to their second win in three games.

Classmate Jason Dunne added 19 points behind five three-pointers for Hartford (4-7), which shot 63 percent from the field (30-for-48), including 65 percent from behind the arc. Bryant’s Sabastian Townes led all scorers with 34 points as the Bulldogs drop to 2-7.

A hot first half allowed the Hawks to blow open a three-point lead at the 11:31 mark and go up by as many as 25 in the opening stanza. Hartford, which shot a sizzling 70 percent from behind the arc during that stretch, pushed ahead by 14 (34-20) with 6:28 to go on a 19-5 run fueled by five-straight makes from long range, including three from Dunne. Led by 15 first-half points from Blagojevic, the Hawks increased the lead to 25 using 11-unanswered points and took a 48-28 lead into the break.

Bryant cut the lead down to 14 on a Taylor McHugh layup with 16:54 to go, but wouldn’t get any closer down the stretch. Graduate transfer Eddie Davis III drilled the Hawks’ final three before Blagojevic gave Hartford its largest lead of the half – a 24-point spread at 89-65 – to keep the game out of reach with 2:55 remaining,

Inside the box and notes

• Lynch (15 points) and Weatherington (10) also netted double figures for the Hawks.
• Hartford, which matched a season-high in three-pointers with 13, posted its best effort from long range since going 15-for-25 (60.0%) against UMBC on Feb. 17, 2016.
• Dunne, Lynch and Weatherington combined to shoot 10-of-15 (66.7%) from three-point land. Dunne had the hottest hand of the three, going 5-of-7 for 71.4 percent.
• Dunne finished with a career-high in assists, finishing with nine, while Lynch tied a season-best effort in the category with eight.
• Blagojevic became Hartford’s first 30-point scorer this season, and the first since Weatherington poured in 34 against Binghamton last year (Jan. 13, 2018).
• Lynch went 4-for-4 from the line, pushing his streak of consecutive makes to 20.

Next on tap

Hartford returns home on Sunday for the first time in 16 days to host Oakland as part of the Capital City’s Games of the Years. Prior to the 4:30 p.m. tipoff, the Hartford women’s team will take on Michigan State at 2 p.m.

The first 500 fans will receive a commemorative t-shirt, while all fans who donate a coat or toy will receive a BOGO voucher for a future Hawks’ game. Tickets for the single admission doubleheader can be purchased by calling 860-768-HAWK, or by clicking here.

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