Bo Taylor hit a turnaround 12-foot jumper from the baseline as time expired and eighth-seeded Hartford held No. 9 Stony Brook without a field goal for the final 16:40 Friday night, rallying for a 49-47 victory over the Seawolves in the first-round of the America East Tournament.
The win advances the Hawks (13-17) to Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded Vermont.
Hartford, down by 20 in the first half and by 19 with 15:10 left, was down, 44-27, with 12:38 left and went on a 22-3 run the rest of the way. Taylor, named to the All-America East first team earlier in the day, ended what had been a bad night for him with only his second field goal in eight tries, the winning play set up after Mitchell Beauford stepped out of bounds with the ball for Stony Brook’s 17th turnover.
Taylor finished with six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Hartford’s Joe Zeglinski, who made the league’s All-Rookie team, led all scorers with 23 points and also had seven rebounds and three steals as the Hawks beat Stony Brook (9-20) for the third time this year by outscoring the Seawolves, 32-13, in the second half..
Mike Popoko led Stony Brook, which was 3-for-19 from the field in the second half, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Vermont-Hartford game kicks off Saturday’s four-game schedule that also includes No. 4 Maine against No. 5 UMBC in the second day game and a night program that has No. 2 Albany going against No. 7 New Hampshire and No. 3 Boston University, the host school, meeting No. 6 Binghamton.
The first round and quarter- and semifinals are being played here with the final game scheduled for March 10 at the site of the higher surviving seed.
America East Players of the Game
Bo Taylor, Hartford
Mike Popoko, Stony Brook