Hartford (+8) vs MD Baltimore County - 9:00am Pacific - Game #749-750
The Hawks surprised most preseason pundits in the America East to finish 2nd and arrive in today's championship playing some of their best basketball of the season. The X-Factor for Hartford is Citadel transfer Warren McClendon who provides wide bodied scoring and shotblocking ability that most teams at this level cannot handle. Hartford has won 8 of last 10 games with one of the losses being with McClendon out. The Hawks revenged that 31 point loss that McClendon missed last Sunday with a 7 point victory in the conference tournament over Boston U to get them to the title game. UMBC was the clear cut champion in the AE but lacks depth especially on the interior and the class to lay this many points in a pressure packed situation. In the regular season the teams split with both teams winning on their home court by just a single point. In the game at UMBC, McClendon especially terrorized the Retrievers scoring 29 and grabbing 10 boards. UMBC's power rating is inflated from catching teams like George Washington, LaSalle and Richmond early in the non-conference season before those teams began to show life. With favorable matchups and recent defensive focus from Hartford it is likely the Hawks will give UMBC all they can handle here. Take the points.

Play: Hartford +8  0.5 UNIT  |  LOSS 65-82



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