Hartford pulls away from Sacred Heart 62-47

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Wes Cole scored 14 points and Hartford capitalized on Sacred Heart's first-half cold spell to win its first game of the season, beating the Pioneers 62-47 Friday night.

Neither team started well, with the score 6-6 after nearly 9 minutes. But the Hawks (1-2) then got on track, with Cole, Yolonzo Moore II and Evan Cooper rattling off 3-pointers in succession.

After Femi Akinpetide's layup for Sacred Heart (1-2), the Pioneers couldn't score again until he made another layup with 3:45 to go. By then, Hartford led 23-10 en route to a 29-16 halftime advantage.

Sacred Heart got within six twice, the last time with 12:38 remaining, but could get no closer.

Evan Cooper added 11 points and Mark Nwakamma had nine points on 3-of-12 shooting for the Hawks, who snapped a three-game losing streak against the Pioneers.

Louis Montes led Sacred Heart with 13 points and 10 rebounds.