Hooley's 29 Points Not Enough as Maine Upends Men's Basketball 81-79
BOX SCORE
BANGOR, MAINE – Despite 29 points from Peter Hooley, University at Albany men's basketball (14-5, 3-1 AE) fell victim to Maine (6-11, 2-2 AE) by a score of 81-79 at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday afternoon. The Great Danes return to SEFCU Arena on Monday to defend their 13-game home winning streak against Binghamton.
“Maine was constantly in attack mode today, and I thought they deserved to win this game,” said head coach Will Brown. “It's very disappointing that we didn't defend today. You can't beat anyone if you don't defend, and we got caught so hats off to Maine.”
Turnovers and fouls became a theme of the contest early and often, as UAlbany tallied four giveaways in the first four minutes. Despite coughing the ball up, the Danes held a 9-6 lead as Maine's Kevin Little picked up his second foul at the 14:40 mark.
But Little remained in the game, and Till Gloger fueled a 6-0 run for the Black Bears to take their first lead, 12-11. As Ray Sanders committed his second foul of the game with 12:55 to go in the first period, each team could credit turnovers for half of their points.
Joe Cremo guided UAlbany into the bonus with 11:07 remaining in the opening stanza, a factor that play into the Purple & Gold's hands. David Nichols was the first player for either squad to step to the charity stripe and knock down two, good for a 16-14 UAlbany lead with 8:50 to go in the first.
After a number of trips to the line, Hooley hit his first three of the game to break a three-minute field goal drought. The senior drained another from behind the arc to extend the UAlbany advantage to 24-19. In addition, Maine's Gloger, Little and Troy Reid-Knight all registered two fouls apiece before the under-8 media timeout.
Evan Singletary got in on the scoring action with five-straight points as the clock ticked under five minutes to play in the first half. Back-to-back Hooley threes and a traditional three-point play from Singletary gave Brown's squad its largest lead of the game, 44-33 with 2:40 remaining in the first.
Maine went on a 6-0 run to end the half, entering the locker room down just five, 48-43 on a last-second three courtesy of Little.
At the break, Hooley had 19 points on a perfect 4-4 clip from three and 7-7 from the field. Singletary notched 10. UAlbany went 10 minutes without missing a field goal to conclude the opening stanza, going 10-10 from the 11:41-1:44 mark.
With the momentum going into halftime, Maine kept its streak going early in the second half. Little recorded his third foul, but helped the Black Bears fuel a 9-3 run to take the lead back, 52-51.
Bob Walsh's squad kept to its up-tempo style, going back and forth with the Danes mid-way through the half. The Black Bears shot 63.4% from the field in the opening 28 minutes, and went 7-for-16 (.438) from three. UAlbany leaned on its free throw shooting to remain in the game.
Richard Peters found Cremo under the basket at the 12:40 mark to break a 4:30 field goal drought for the Danes, narrowing the margin to 58-57. At the under-12 media, the Purple & Gold had converted just two field goals in the entire half.
Things began to look up after Hooley reached a season-high with 22 points on another three. UAlbany entered the double bonus at the 9:29 mark with Maine ahead 64-63. Brown & co., was 20-27 (.741) from the charity stripe, while Maine shot just five and made one entering the under-8.
But the fourth fouls for Sanders and Greig Stire put a damper on UAlbany's defensive efforts. The teams went scoreless for two minutes late in the half, with Maine continuing to lead 72-70.
The game coming down to the wire, Hooley scored on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 77 with 55 seconds to play. Maine called timeout to get set, and Shaun Lawton recovered his own rebound to give the Black Bears the 79-77 edge.
With 14.1 seconds on the clock, UAlbany missed a jumper to tie the game; but Sanders stole the Maine in-bounds pass at half-court and drove to re-tie the game at 79. Brown's squad sent Aaron Calixte to the line for two free throws. He made both with four seconds to play, and UAlbany could not convert to tie the game.
Hooley finished with a near-career high 29 points. His career best is 30, set against UMBC in the 2014 America East quarterfinal. Singletary netted 15 in the loss. Stire and Rowley combined for nine offensive rebounds, and Rowley led the Danes on the boards with seven. The Danes surrendered a regulation game season-high 81 points.
Next up, UAlbany men's basketball hosts Binghamton (3-13,0-3 AE) for a 7:00 p.m., tip on Monday, Jan. 18.
