Late Second Half Run Falls Short for Men's Basketball at Bucknell
BOX SCORE
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Despite narrowing the margin to one point late in the game, University at Albany men's basketball (2-6) ran out of time at Bucknell (4-6) on Monday night in a 61-58 loss. Sam Rowley led the Purple & Gold with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Both teams went to the basket in the opening moments of the game, but offensive fouls ruled the inside battle early on. The Great Danes started the game off with two turnovers, and Sam Rowley picked up his first foul 15 seconds in.
Evan Singletary quickly turned the game around, scoring six-straight on a traditional three-point play and a long three-pointer to give UAlbany a 6-2 lead. Rowley returned the favor with seven-straight points, opening up a 13-6 lead on the Bison.
Will Brown's squad was 3-for-4 (.750) from the field to start, and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
Despite the fast start, the Purple & Gold found themselves in a scoring drought mid-way through the first half. Peter Hooley notched his first field goal to get the momentum back on a long two, making the score 15-8.
Bucknell was also experiencing shooting woes, committing just one turnover in four scoreless minutes. Additionally, the Bison put the Great Danes in the bonus with nine minutes to go in the first half.
After grabbing the rebound on a Bucknell lay-up, Hooley went the length of the floor to find Wheeler Baker at the three-point line, good for a seven-point lead, 20-13. Two free throws from Greig Stire moments later matched UAlbany's largest lead, 22-13 at the 6:47 mark of the opening period.
Bucknell's Chris Hass took over at the end of the first half, scoring 10 points in six minutes. The senior guard sunk a three at the buzzer to give the Bison their first lead, 29-28, going into the break.
The Great Danes had more bad luck to open the second half, as Richard Peters quickly picked up his third foul in his first UAlbany start. The sophomore took a seat, and Bucknell went on an 11-0 run starting from the end of the first half.
Baker ended the four-minute drought with a three at the 17:25 mark. The freshman followed up his three with an assist on a Sam Rowley lay-up on the ensuing possession.
Rowley scored four straight points, but the Purple & Gold went without a field goal for another six-minute period mid-way through the second half. Will Brown's squad went 0-for-6 with two turnovers, but was only down four with 10 minutes remaining.
Bucknell went 3-for-4 from behind the arc in less than a two-minute span with five minutes to play. A Hooley three was met with a Hass three, giving the Bison a 54-48 lead with 4:47 on the clock.
Singletary came through with two threes to keep the margin down to one possession late. Baker came through defensively for a steal and lay-in with 1:46 to go to narrow the Bucknell lead to 59-58.
On another solid defensive effort from UAlbany, Bucknell turned the ball over with 1:24 remaining. With a chance to take its first lead since late in the first half, Singletary missed a three and the Great Danes were forced to foul to stop the clock.
Nana Foullard missed both free throws with the Bison in the double bonus and 3.2 seconds to go, but UAlbany had just 2.6 seconds to go the length of the floor on the rebound. Will Brown's squad fell 61-58 to the Bison in its third-straight road game.
UAlbany won the battle in points off turnovers (15-9) and off the bench (17-10). Bucknell's Chris Hass finished with 26 points on 6-for-11 from three-point land. The Bison shot 22-for-46 (.478) from the field, while the Purple & Gold shot 20-for-55 (.364).
Sam Rowley nearly had his fourth double-double of the year, with 17 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. He joined Singletary (15) and Baker (11) in double digits.
The Great Danes will look to defend the Albany Cup this Saturday, visiting Siena (3-4) at the Times Union Center for a 7:30 p.m., tip. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
