Durham, N.H. - Tyrece Gibbs scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half in leading New Hampshire to a 75-66 victory over UAlbany in the America East Conference opener for both teams on Thursday, Jan. 3 at Lundholm Gymnasium.
New Hampshire (4-8, AE 1-0) trailed 53-47 with less than seven minutes remaining, but then went on a 13-2 run to take control. Gibbs, a 6'2" junior, tied the contest with a 3-pointer from the right corner. Freshman guard Alvin Abreu, who had 11 of his 14 points in the final stanza, later drilled a three-pointer from the top of the arc for a 56-54 lead.
UAlbany (5-8, AE 0-1) was still within 60-58 when Jon Iati nailed a three-point shot. But the Wildcats, who ended a seven-game losing streak, came up with a pair of three-point plays that decided the outcome. Abreu, who played all 40 minutes due to a short bench, banked in a long-range jumper from the left side with 2:04 left. Eric Gilchrese then made a conventional three-point play when he was fouled as he scored off his missed free throw for a 66-58 advantage.
Gilchrese, who had 18 points, made 13-of-15 from the line. Mike Christensen was the fourth UNH player in double figures with 16. Brian Lillis had 14 points for the Great Danes, who have dropped seven of eight road games this season. Brian Connelly and Josh Martin added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
"They spread us out and hit some three-point field goals,” said UAlbany head coach Will Brown, whose team had won its previous three league openers. “(Alvin) Abreu's bank shot for three was a back-breaker. We didn't compete at the level we needed to win games on the road in our conference. We will have to learn from this and get tougher."
The opening half produced runs by both teams and resulted in UAlbany leading by one at the break. New Hampshire led 18-14 on a three-point field goal by Christensen, a 6-foot-8 senior who scored 15 in the period on 6-of-9 shooting. The Great Danes responded with 10 unanswered. Connelly canned a pair of shots to put his team ahead. UAlbany pushed out to a 32-22 advantage on Martin's two free throws. But UNH followed with 12 of the game's next 14 points to wipe out that deficit. Christensen converted on the baseline to draw his team even at 34 apiece.
"The effort level of our team was not good,” said Connelly, who made 5-of-9 from the field. “The new guys do not know what it takes to win a championship and the old guys have not done a good job of teaching them. Their guard penetration bothered us, they got into the middle pretty much when they wanted."
New Hampshire 75, UAlbany 66 (01/03/08 at Durham, N.H.)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
Albany vs New Hampshire
01/03/08 7 p.m. at Lundholm Gymnasium (Durham, N.H.)
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VISITORS: Albany 5-8, 0-1 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Martin, Josh........ * 2-5 0-2 6-7 1 3 4 2 10 2 2 0 2 36
21 Lillis, Brian....... * 6-14 0-3 2-4 1 1 2 3 14 1 1 0 0 31
33 Connelly, Brian..... * 5-9 0-1 2-3 2 2 4 4 12 0 1 0 1 26
34 Wilson, Brent....... * 2-7 2-5 2-2 3 5 8 4 8 1 1 0 0 34
55 Turley, Al.......... * 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 10
05 Hastings, Jerel..... 1-3 0-0 4-4 2 1 3 0 6 0 2 0 0 11
14 Iati, Jon........... 2-5 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 3 6 0 1 0 1 14
23 Ambrose, Tim........ 2-9 0-2 0-0 1 2 3 3 4 2 1 1 2 14
42 Covington, Jimmie... 1-1 0-0 3-4 1 3 4 2 5 0 3 1 1 19
54 Gifford, Brett...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 4
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 21-55 4-17 20-26 14 23 37 22 66 6 13 5 7 199
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 38.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 23.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-14 85.7% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 76.9% 0
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HOME TEAM: New Hampshire 4-8, 1-0 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 DiLiegro, Dane...... * 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 5 9 5 4 1 2 1 0 19
04 Gibbs, Tyrece....... * 7-14 3-7 2-2 0 3 3 4 19 3 2 2 1 33
23 Gilchrese, Eric..... * 2-7 1-2 13-15 1 1 2 3 18 0 3 0 1 34
25 Abreu, Alvin........ * 4-12 3-6 3-3 1 5 6 3 14 1 1 0 1 40
33 Christensen, Mike... * 6-10 2-4 2-3 2 4 6 5 16 4 3 0 1 34
11 Valladares, James... 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 4 0 0 0 1 26
40 Tobey, Shawn........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 13
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 23-54 9-19 20-23 11 26 37 21 75 9 11 3 5 199
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-33 39.4% 2nd Half: 10-21 47.6% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 47.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-7 100 % 2nd Half: 13-16 81.3% Game: 87.0% 0
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Officials: Timothy O'Brien, Michael Alvaro, Joe Healey
Technical fouls: Albany-None. New Hampshire-None.
Attendance: 521
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Albany........................ 38 28 - 66
New Hampshire................. 37 38 - 75
