University of Hartford head men’s basketball coach John Gallagher picked up his 100th career on Wednesday night, as the Hawks soared past New Hampshire, 79-62, in Durham.

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West Hartford resident John Gallagher, coach of the University of Hartford men’s basketball team, earned his 100th career win Wednesday night with a 79-62 victory over New Hampshire in Lundholm Gym in Durham, NH.

Junior Jason Dunne led the Hawks (13-10, 6-3 AE) with 24 points, recording his sixth 20-plus point game of the season. Junior J.R. Lynch (17 points), redshirt-junior John Carroll (12 points) and senior Jack Hobbs (11 points) joined Dunne in double figures.  

Hartford came out of the gates strong, hitting its first six field goals, including a pair of three-pointers, in the opening six minutes to take an early 14-12 lead. The Hawks’ hot hands continued as they scored 11 unanswered to take their largest lead of the half at 12 points with 11:55 remaining.

The Wildcats responded with 10 unanswered of their own to pull within one at the 2:55 mark. But Hartford scored the final four points of the half to take a 39-34 advantage to the locker room.

New Hampshire opened the second half with eight-straight points to retake a 42-39 advantage with 16:50 left. After the Hawks regained the lead on a three from junior transfer Travis Weatherington, the Wildcats responded quickly to tie it back up with 14:19 remaining. Dunne put an end to the back-and-forth action, though, converting on a layup seconds later to give Hawks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Hartford put the pedal to the metal and took its largest lead of the game (23 points) with 1:37 left behind the strength of a 22-7 run.

Hartford held a slight advantage from the free-throw line, hitting 14 free throws (67 percent) to New Hampshire’s 13, while also holding the edge from behind the arc with 11 triples to the Wildcats nine.

The Hawks also held the advantage on the boards with a 37-30 edge.

Junior George Blagojevic posted a career-high 11 rebounds to leading the team and surpass 300 for his career.

Carroll recorded his 20th double-figure scoring game of the season.

With the win, the Hawks ended a six-game skid against New Hampshire.

Gallagher joins Gordon McCullough (201 wins), Jack Phelan (128 wins), and Paul Brazeau (100 wins) as Hartford coaches with 100 career wins.

The final stop of Hartford’s road trip lands the Hawks on Long Island for a battle with Stony Brook on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Hawks look to avenge a two-point loss earlier this season.

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