Men’s and women’s basketball at the University of Hartford is back yet again for another season of playing for wins, both teams started the season kicked-off on Tuesday night, as the men went up-against Central Connecticut for the first game of the 2019-2020 college basketball season, while the women were set to go up against Hofstra at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion to open the season on Wednesday night. With both games being broadcast on ESPN+ for the individual nights. First the men took the court. Tipoff started at 7 p.m. from Detrick Gymnasium, in-which was the official start of the season commencing. The game brought some incredible thrills, chills and spills from both teams, as they both went on to battle each other on the court. However, The Hawks were able to pulled-off a win in a final score of 74-59 against CCSU. Just before halftime with only seconds to spare, sophomore player Michael Dunne came through, leading to Hartford’s sixth three-pointer of the period to send the men’s team into the break with an advantage of 33-30. With a total of fifteen new players, The Hawks came ready for competition. In addition to the latest season starting, The Hawks are coming off having the most successful two year run since transitioning to Division 1, combining for 37 wins in a stretch. During their 2017-2018 season, they came out with a total of 18 victories, during the 2018-2019 season they all also performed well, coming-up short in the end but still had a good run. The Hartford men’s basketball also won a school-record with winning 19 games during the 2017-2018 season, which also brought-in a program best of 18 games during the regular season. In the midst of the new season starting, the team has welcomed several new players to the line-up, with half being consist of transfer and freshmen students are looking for a chance to come out on top at Hartford. Two players that are striving for highs this season in particular are rookie guards Moses Flowers and PJ Henry. Flowers is a native from Dorchester, Mass, only a few hours away from UHart. As suppose to Henry, who is a native from Houston, Texas, almost half a day away from Connecticut. But it’s not all about the men, the women of basketball have just as much strength to prove their dominance in the sport. The women who are not just back to claimed their title that was almost theirs last season, but back to reclaimed their place in women’s college basketball, as the ones to beat. All the newcomers for both men and women’s basketball will be joining the returning students for the new season. Amidst half the players from last season either graduating or transferring to other schools to compete against the University of Hartford.

IMAGE COURTESY OF HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION