West Hartford, Conn. - Milton Burton had 24 points, including a key three-point field goal in overtime, as Hartford outlasted UAlbany, 85-79, in the America East Conference regular-season finale for both teams on Sunday, Feb. 28 at Chase Arena.
Hartford (8-21, AE 6-10) tallied the first six points in the extra period to take control. Anthony Minor, who had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench, scored the first basket and Burton made a pair of free throws. Morgan Sabia, who had 19 points and canned four 3-pointers, hit a reverse layup to complete the outburst. After UAlbany's Logan Aronhalt sliced the lead in half with a three-pointer, Burton answered with his own long-range jumper.
The Hawks, who ended a five-game losing streak, tied the contest at 72 apiece in regulation when Minor sank both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 9.4 seconds remaining. Will Harris's three-point attempt at the buzzer glanced off the front of the rim.
"They played a better five minutes than we did," UAlbany coach Will Brown said about the overtime session. "We took one or two quick shots that I thought we settled for, but these are young kids trying to make a play. I was not surprised that he (Anthony Minor) made both three throws."
The second half went back and forth. UAlbany (7-24, AE 2-14) reversed a 64-61 deficit with seven unanswered. Harris, who had a season-high 26 points, hit a jumper from left of the lane to put his club ahead, and Aronhalt and Fran Urli added free throws to close out the run. Joe Zeglinski, the conference's fourth-leading scorer, drained one of his five 3-pointers to close the gap to 68-67. After Mike Black connected off his steal, Sabia nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to draw his team even at 70 apiece. Aronhalt made two free throws as the Great Danes regained the lead.
"It was a frustrating result," said Aronhalt, a redshirt freshman who netted a career-high 18 points and made four 3-pointers. "We shot the ball well, but struggled in the overtime. I think we were a little tired."
In the first half, Hartford leaped to an 11-5, as Sabia hit a pair of three-pointers in that opening stretch. The Great Danes responded with nine straight points. Tim Ambrose connected in transition following a steal to put his team ahead, before Urli scored in the lane.
The Hawks, who made 9-of-15 from three-point range in the period, were still behind, 29-28, but than ran off eight straight. Burton converted a fastbreak and then drained a long-range shot in giving his team the advantage. Minor's basket in the paint finished off that spurt. UAlbany closed within 43-42 when Billy Allen nailed a three-pointer from the left corner right before the break.
Black, a freshman guard, had 14 points, while Urli finished with 12 for the Great Danes, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 road games. The Hawks, who posted a 64-62 win over UAlbany in the first meeting, swept the season series for the first time since 2002-03.
Paw Prints: UAlbany will be the eighth seed for the upcoming America East Conference Championship ... the Great Danes will meet Stony Brook in a quarterfinal postseason tournament game on Saturday, March 6 at Hartford's Chase Arena ... tip-off is 12:00 p.m. ... Will Harris scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this season and recorded his highest scoring total since Feb. 5, 2009 ... Mike Black and Logan Aronhalt reached double figures for the tenth and seventh time, respectively, this season.
Hartford 85, UAlbany 79 OT (02/28/10, Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ALBANY vs HARTFORD
02/28/10 4 p.m. at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion
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VISITORS: ALBANY 7-24, 2-14
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Aronhalt, Logan..... * 5-12 4-10 4-4 2 1 3 1 18 0 3 0 1 28
03 Harris, Will........ * 9-17 4-8 4-4 0 4 4 3 26 3 2 1 1 39
10 Black, Mike......... * 4-12 3-7 3-4 1 1 2 4 14 6 3 0 1 38
12 McRae, Scotty....... * 0-6 0-1 1-2 6 2 8 3 1 0 1 2 0 27
54 Gifford, Brett...... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 1 2 1 0 15
04 Urli, Fran.......... 3-5 0-0 6-9 2 3 5 0 12 0 0 0 0 35
05 Tartt, Derrek....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8
21 Metcalf, Blake...... 0-0 0-0 2-4 1 4 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 14
23 Ambrose, Tim........ 1-5 0-1 1-2 1 8 9 1 3 3 2 0 0 19
33 Allen, Billy........ 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 23-60 12-29 21-29 15 28 43 15 79 15 14 5 3 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27 44.4% 2nd Half: 9-23 39.1% OT: 2-10 20.0% Game: 38.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% OT: 2-7 28.6% Game: 41.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-16 75.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 72.4% 3
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HOME TEAM: HARTFORD 8-21, 6-10
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Burton, Milton...... * 7-13 4-7 6-6 1 4 5 3 24 1 1 0 2 40
10 Zeglinski, Zach..... * 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6
15 Bookman, David...... * 2-4 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 2 5 1 0 0 0 13
23 Sabia, Morgan....... * 7-11 4-6 1-2 1 4 5 3 19 3 1 1 0 37
24 Zeglinski, Joe...... * 7-21 5-16 0-0 3 4 7 2 19 2 3 1 1 44
02 White, Charles...... 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 1 4 3 1 1 2 20
05 Barkers, Joel....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 14
11 Torres, Andres...... 0-1 0-1 3-4 0 1 1 3 3 6 1 0 1 25
25 Minor, Anthony...... 4-5 0-0 3-4 1 6 7 4 11 3 0 1 0 26
TEAM................ 3 3 1
Totals.............. 28-62 13-31 16-20 9 27 36 22 85 21 10 4 6 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-32 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-24 37.5% OT: 3-6 50.0% Game: 45.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 9-15 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% OT: 1-3 33.3% Game: 41.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-8 100 % OT: 6-8 75.0% Game: 80.0% 2
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Officials: Gary Pucino, John Regan, David Gay
Technical fouls: ALBANY-None. HARTFORD-None.
Attendance: 1355
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
ALBANY........................ 42 30 7 - 79
HARTFORD...................... 43 29 13 - 85
Points in the paint-ALBANY 14,HARTFORD 26. Points off turnovers-ALBANY 16,HARTFORD 18.
2nd chance points-ALBANY 8,HARTFORD 12. Fast break points-ALBANY 4,HARTFORD 6.
Bench points-ALBANY 20,HARTFORD 18. Score tied-9 times. Lead changed-16 times.
Last FG-ALBANY OT-00:09, HARTFORD OT-00:43.
Largest lead-ALBANY by 4 2nd-03:08, HARTFORD by 7 1st-0:22.
