VESTAL, N.Y.-- Joe Zeglinski scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds as second-seeded Hartford hung on to defeat top seventh-seeded New Hampshire, 68-65, in the quarterfinals of the 2008 America East Men’s Basketball Championship at the Events Center Saturday afternoon. The Hawks withstood a late UNH comeback bid to move on to the semifinals to face the winner of the last quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 Albany and No. Boston University Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Box Score.Hartford (17-15) led by seven, 60-53, with 3:17 to play before a three-pointer by Alvin Abreu tied the contest with 2:02 left. The Hawks had a 66-62 edge with 30 seconds to go before a long three-pointer by Tyrece Gibbs cut it to one with 19 ticks left. A pair of free throws by Jared Von Rosenberg with 17 seconds left pushed it to 68-65 before the Hawks weathered a trio of open three-point attempts by the Wildcats before the final horn sounded.
In addition to Zeglinski, who went 12-for-12 from the free throw line, Warren McClendon also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Morgan Sabia added 12 points and Von Rosenberg had 10 as the Hawks advance to the conference semifinals for the 10th time in history and the fourth time in the last seven years.
New Hampshire (9-20), which had four freshmen on the floor for long stretches of the contest, was led by senior Mike Christensen who had 20 points and 10 boards in his last collegiate game. Abreu scored 16 including four three-point field goals and Tyrece Gibbs added 12. Dane DiLiegro pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds as the Wildcats won the battle of the boards, 39-31.
Bolstered by a 50 percent effort in the second stanza, Hartford shot 46 percent for the game compared to 39 percent for UNH. The Wildcats went 11-for-35 from three-point range, the second most three-point attempts in conference championship history behind 38 by Vermont in a quarterfinal game in 1994. New Hampshire hit seven three-pointers in the second half to tie the single-game mark in one half set by Hartford in a first round contest a year ago.