Albany, N.Y. - Tim Ambrose scored 21 points and the go-ahead basket with eight seconds remaining in leading UAlbany to a 64-63 victory over Central Connecticut State on Saturday, Dec. 11 at SEFCU Arena. The non-conference series went down to the wire for the fourth straight season, including two overtime decisions.
    Central Connecticut State (4-5) trailed by as much as 18 points in the final period, and was still behind 53-36 with 9:46 to play before starting its comeback. Robby Ptacek ignited a 14-1 outburst by canning a three-point from the right wing and making an 18-footer from the circle. Ken Horton, a 6-foot-6 junior who missed all of last season with an injury, brought his team within a basket with a tip-in of Shemik Thompson's miss in the lane.
     Ptacek, who had 18 of his 26 points after the break, put his team ahead, 58-57 on a long-range shot from the right wing. Horton, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, connected a driving one-hander from the right side for a three-point lead.
     After UAlbany's John Puk split a pair of free throws, Ambrose stole De'Angelo Speech's errant pass and hit a layup to draw his team even at 60 apiece. Following another Blue Devil turnover, Ambrose made a 12-foot jumper from left of the lane to regain the lead. Puk then drew a charging call on Ptacek that led to Ralph Watts making both ends of a one-and-one from the line with 4.6 seconds left. CCSU's Thompson canned a three-pointer at the end.
     "They did a good job of cranking up the pressure," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team dropped a 70-68 overtime decision at Central Conn. State last year. "They went small and played (Robby) Ptacek at the small forward and that gave us some problems. But we found a way to win. This could have been demoralizing."
     The Great Danes, who shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half, had an early 11-9 lead, but then ripped off 10 unanswered. Ambrose, a 6-foot senior, made consecutive baskets, including a bank shot from the right off the dribble. Mike Black, who had 15 points, and Ambrose would add back-to-back three-pointers.
     Still leading 23-14 after the Blue Devils' Horton made a turnaround bank, UAlbany (5-6) pushed the lead back to double figures. Logan Aronhalt converted a fastbreak layup, before Black connected on a drive from the top of the arc. Luke Devlin's three-pointer from the top of the arc provided his team with a 30-17 advantage and his team would take a 15-point cushion to the intermission.
     "They denied the lanes and I had to make a play on my own," said Ambrose, who described the go-ahead basket and added five assists, five rebounds and four steals to his scoring total. "We fought back and I was lucky enough to get a key steal. That was a great one to get at home."

Paw Prints:  UAlbany and Central Connecticut State have played four consecutive nail-biters ... the Great Danes have won two one-point decisions at SEFCU Arena and each team has won in overtime during that span ... UAlbany snapped an eight-game losing streak at home and last won in its facility on Jan. 13, 2010 ... Central Conn. State was coming off last Tuesday's thrilling 63-61 loss at highly-regarded Dayton ... Tim Ambrose scored 20-plus for the 18th time as a collegian and has reached twin figures in all 11 games this season ... freshman Luke Devlin grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds ... redshirt freshman John Puk tied career-highs in points (7) and blocked shots (4).

UAlbany 64, Central Connecticut State 63 (12/11/10 at Albany, N.Y., SEFCU Arena)

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Box Score

CCSU vs Albany
12/11/10 7:05 p.m. at Albany, N.Y. (SEFCU Arena)

CCSU 63

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
00	DEANS, Markeys	f	3-8	0-1	2-4	1-3	4	4	8	3	1	0	1	38
30	HORTON, Ken	f	6-10	2-5	1-1	3-6	9	0	15	2	2	1	1	28
11	THOMPSON, Shemik	g	3-10	2-6	0-0	2-2	4	3	8	1	3	1	1	30
22	BAILEY, Devan	g	2-4	0-1	0-0	0-4	4	2	4	4	4	0	3	33
24	PTACEK, Robby	g	9-17	3-5	5-6	0-1	1	2	26	1	1	0	1	37
20	SPEECH, De'Angelo	-	1-4	0-0	0-0	2-0	2	3	2	1	3	0	2	21
21	EFESE, Joe	-	0-2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3
25	BASKERVILLE, Chris	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
33	ALLEN, Terrell	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
41	ALEXANDER, Justin	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	2-1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	24-55	7-18	8-11	10-17	27	15	63	12	14	3	9	200
			43.6%	38.9%	72.7%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		8-26	3-8	3-4
			30.8%	37.5%	75.0%
	2nd Half:		16-29	4-10	5-7
			55.2%	40.0%	71.4%

Albany 64

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
11	Devlin, Luke	f	2-6	1-4	0-0	5-6	11	3	5	1	0	0	0	36
44	Puk, John	c	1-4	0-0	5-6	1-3	4	2	7	1	0	4	1	26
02	Aronhalt, Logan	g	3-8	1-5	1-2	0-4	4	1	8	2	2	1	2	39
10	Black, Mike	g	6-12	2-3	1-2	1-1	2	0	15	3	7	0	1	34
23	Ambrose, Tim	g	9-13	3-4	0-0	0-5	5	4	21	5	7	0	4	32
00	Iati, Jacob	-	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	5
21	Metcalf, Blake	-	3-3	0-0	0-0	2-1	3	1	6	0	3	1	0	18
22	Watts, Ralph	-	0-1	0-1	2-2	0-0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	10
33	Allen, Billy	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	0-2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	24-48	7-18	9-12	9-22	31	11	64	14	21	6	8	200
			50.0%	38.9%	75.0%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		15-29	5-12	2-2
			51.7%	41.7%	100 %
	2nd Half:		9-19	2-6	7-10
			47.4%	33.3%	70.0%

Score by Periods	1st	2nd	Total
CCSU	22	41	63	Record: (4-5)
Albany	37	27	64	Record: (5-6)

Officials: Jeffry Bryant, Dan Boomhour, Leon Sandiford Technical fouls: CCSU-BAILEY, Devan. Albany-None. Attendance: 1879

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