WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut - The Black Bears and Hartford Hawks faced off Monday afternoon in a defensive-minded Monday afternoon matchup as Maine dropped the conference meeting with the Hawks 54-44 in Hartford.

Vincent Eze lead all Black Bear scorers as he ended the game with 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists and steals, and a block in the matchup; Eze has scored in double figures in three of Maine's last four games. Wes Myers tallied 12 points, along with five rebounds, and one assist. Austin Howard finished with eight points, four rebounds, and one assist.

Hartford started the game off with an 8-2 run in the first four minutes of the game, followed up by an 8-2 Maine run in the following three minutes, to tie the game up at 10-all with 13:14 remaining in the first. Following that tie, Hartford took the lead for the remainder of the half, only leading by as much as seven points, but Maine kept right up with them, as the half ended with a 33-29 Hartford lead.

The second half was a defensive battle between the two teams as both teams shot below 40% in the second half with only a total of 36 total points scored in the second half. Hartford was able to maintain the lead over Maine but was unable to increase their lead to more than 12 points, as Maine kept pace with them for most of the half, cutting the lead to two points three separate times in the half; eventually in the last five minutes Hartford was able to pull away to end the game on a 10-point lead, 54-44.

The Black Bears are off until Thursday evening when they face UNH at the Cross Center at 7pm for Beach Night, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings, with gift cards and other prizes for fans who attend. For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com or the Cross Center box office.

-UMaine-