WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Despite five double-figure scorers and its best shooting-performance in America East play, the University of Maine men's basketball team could not keep up with the high-octane Hartford Hawks offense, falling 81-73 on Wednesday night at Chase Arena.
 
Dennis Ashley (6-11 FG, 4-6 3PT) and Andrew Fleming (6-13 FG) both tallied 16 points in the contest for the Black Bears (5-21, 3-8 AE) The game marked Fleming's ninth career double double, as he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds against the Hawks, while also distributing six assists. Ashley's 16 points are a new career-high, previously reaching 11 points on Dec. 10, 2017 against Maine-Machias.
 
Sergio El Darwich (4-9 FG, 2-4 3PT), Vincent Eze (4-7 FG) and Isaiah White (4-7 FG, 2-3 3PT) all tallied 10 points in Maine's second game this season with five double-figure scorers.
 
Neither team led by more than eight in the first half, as Hartford held a slim lead for the first 10 minutes of the first half. After the Hawks (13-12, 6-4 AE) built a six-point lead at 23-17, the Black Bears went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the contest at 24-23. Two teams would trade leads eight more times over the final 5:27 of the first half, as Hartford finished the frame on a 11-4 run to take a 41-36 lead into the break.
 
The Black Bears regrouped, starting off the second half hot with a 7-2 charge to tie the game at 43-43. After tied scores at 46-46 and 48-48, the Hawks built an eight-point lead after a scoring run to take a 65-57 advantage with 9:10 remaining. Maine dwindled the deficit to just a single point after two free throws by Eze, a Fleming layup and trey by El Darwich.
 
After 3-pointers and layups were traded by both teams, Harford would hold a slim 72-70 advantage with just 2:52 to go. The Hawks would go on to score six unanswered points for an eight-point lead with just 25 seconds remaining.
 
Ashley connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the game to bring the game within five points, but the Hawks sunk 3-of-4 from the line in the final 17 seconds to earn the 81-73 victory.
 
Maine led in rebound column by a 31-27 mark. Overall Maine converted 29-of-56 attempts floor, shooting at a .518 clip, while Hartford knocked down 30 of its 52 attempts for a 57.7 shooting percentage.
 
Four Hawks scored 10-plus points, with Travis Weatherington (22 pts), J.R. Lynch (19 pts), Jason Dunne (15 pts) and George Blagojevic (12 pts ) leading the way on the scoreboard.
 
Maine is back in action on Sunday, when the Black Bears look to pull off a season sweep of Albany. The opening tip at the Cross Insurance Center is set for 1:00 p.m. For tickets, visit the Cross Insurance Center box office, or head to ticketmaster.com.
 
-UMaine-