Baltimore, Md. - Scotty McRae scored a career-high 21 points and Tim Ambrose added 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in leading UAlbany to a 75-62 road win against UMBC in America East Conference play on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Retriever Activities Center. The Great Danes snapped an eight-game losing streak.
     UAlbany (7-21, AE 2-11) led 44-38 in the second half, but then ripped off six unanswered. Ambrose and Brett Gifford had baskets and Mike Black converted a fastbreak layup. Still leading 57-47, the Great Danes tallied eight of the game's next 11 points.  Ambrose, a 6-foot junior who made 7-of-8 from the floor and handed out six assists, ignited that stretch with a free throw and slam dunk off his steal. McRae ended that decisive outburst with a conventional three-point play when he was fouled on a fastbreak layup for a 65-50 margin with 4:07 remaining.
     "It was a good team effort on both ends of the floor," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose club shot 52.9 percent from the field, the second-best figure of the year. "We rebounded consistently, controlled tempo and got easy baskets in transition. It was a much-needed win and good for our psyche."
     In the first half, UAlbany took an early 13-4 lead when Black. a freshman guard who had 15 points, made consecutive 3-pointers, including one from the right side. The lead swelled to 12 as Ambrose hit a deep three-pointer from the right wing and put back a missed layup.
     The Great Danes, who shot nearly 54 percent in the period, later moved out to a 34-16 advantage. Logan Aronhalt connected on a three-point play as he was fouled on a turnaround from right of the lane. McRae added an offensive rebound basket. The Retrievers put together a run of eight straight. Chris De La Rosa, who tallied 12 of his 19 points in the stanza, had a pair of baskets, including a driving layup that sliced the deficit to 34-24 in the final three minutes of the half.
     UAlbany led by 14 early in the final period as Fran Urli made a three-point play when he scored off the glass in the lane. UMBC (3-23, AE 2-11) regrouped with a 12-4 run as Chauncey Gilliam, who had all 15 of his points after the break, led the way. The sophomore guard canned a three-point field goal from the top of the arc as his team closed within six with 15:34 left.
     "I thought we played solid team defense," offered McRae, whose squad stopped an 11-game conference road loss skein that dated back to January 2009. "We made a decent amount of our shots, ran the floor, and played aggressively."
    McRae, a 6-foot-8 senior who made 7 of 9 from the field and 7 of 7 from the line, added nine rebounds to his scoring total. His team also ended a nine-game road losing skid.

Paw Prints:  UAlbany won for the first time on road since a victory over Pennsylvania at The Palestra on Dec. 8 ... the Great Danes also posted their first conference road triumph since an 82-77 decision at Vermont on Jan. 11, 2009 ... Tim Ambrose recorded his first double-double of the season ... Ambrose moved to 28th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,028 points ... Mike Black has a four-game, double-figure scoring streak and is averaging 14.5 in that span ... Brett Gifford, a 6-foot-11 senior, turned in his best effort in the month of February with six points and four rebounds off the bench ... UAlbany climbed into a tie for eighth place in the America East standings.

UAlbany 75, UMBC 62 (02-13-10 at Baltimore, Md., RAC Arena)

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ALBANY 75

UMBC 62