the Informer

Photo courtesy of Adam Manison

When the Hartford Hawks took the court vs. America-East leading Stony Brook on Wednesday night, they were hoping for a bit stronger offensive performance than they received. The Hawks fell to a tough Stony Brook team 54-44. The Hawks really struggled offensively, shooting fewer than 35 percent from the floor.

It wasn’t much better for Stony Brook who shot 38 percent, but shot 16 of 23 from the line compared to 4 of 13 for the Hawks. It just seemed that the Hawks could not find their shot tonight, and you could tell from the faces that it was frustrating.

Just a week after guard Joe Zeglinski broke the all-time 3-point shooting record for three’s made, Zeglinski shot just 2 of 15, with only one three-point shot made. It was also a rough night for guard/foward Milton Burton, who went 2 of 11, and is still getting comfortable with his role. Head Coach Dan Leibovitz thought Burton played well despite his poor shooting.
“I think all things considered, with the pressure he’s facing, I think he’s doing an incredible job.”

Stony Brook had a solid night from Muhammad El-Amin and Chris Martin, who both had 16 points. El-Amin did a good job drawing pressure and getting to the line, as he found himself at the stripe nine times, making eight.

Overall Stony Brook just looked like the stronger team. The first half Stony Brook held the Hawks to just 15 points, and really never let up. Coach Leibovitz thought the same. “Clearly Stony Brook did a really good job on defense, I thought we did too.” He continued on, “They did a good job on Joe tonight too, obviously it was a frustrating night for him.”

The Hawks were trying to focus in on stopping El-Aminu and Bryan Dougher, especially keying in on Dougher who the Hawks did a good job on, holding him to only six points. El-Aminu was a bit of a tougher project, as he put up 16, but all in all it was solid defensive performance for both teams tonight.
The Hawks have now dropped both games to first-place Stony Brook this season, but may potentially see them in the America-East Tournament.

“Maybe there’s some things we could take advantage of, and maybe work on the foul shooting, at 4 of 13 your not going to win a game, and we also saw some opportunities to attack the paint a little more,” Leibovitz said.

Either way, it was not the best game for either team tonight. Neither Hartford nor Stony Brook looked particularly sharp, but it gives something for the Hawks to work on for their next game, Saturday, in New Hampshire at UNH.

The next home game for the Hawks will be Thursday, February 11 vs. UMBC. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.