Men's Basketball Takes Down Hartford 75-59 on Senior Night, Set to Face Hawks Again on Wednesday in America East Quarterfinals

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ALBANY, N.Y. – After defeating Hartford (9-22, 4-12 AE) by a score of 75-59 on Saturday night, University at Albany men's basketball (24-7, 13-3 AE) earned the right to face the Hawks again on Wednesday, March 2 at SEFCU Arena in the America East Quarterfinals. Sophomore Greig Stire had another monster game in the frontcourt, going for 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“The game went pretty much as expected,” said head coach Will Brown. “It was a little uglier because we knew Hartford was going to sit in a zone defensively. They wanted to dare us to shoot the ball, keeping us off of the free throw line. Hartford is a dangerous team, but I thought we did a great job on the glass and we got to the free throw line. We need to do better on Wednesday, and I expect us to defend a bit better. It's time to lace the sneakers a little tighter, and prove we're good enough in the postseason.”

Hartford showed zone early, forcing the Danes to take jumpers. Despite taking an early 5-4 lead, the Danes saw their advantage dwindle at the hands of hot shooting from the Hawks. John Gallagher's squad used an 8-3 spurt to take a 14-8 lead less than five minutes in.

The Hawks went 8-14 (.571) from the field in the first eight minutes, and committed just one turnover in the first six minutes. Hartford eventually cooled off, as UAlbany strung together a 13-2 run with three minutes left in the first. The Hawks went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. Ray Sanders scored seven straight points as the Purple & Gold took its largest lead of the opening stanza, 30-21.

Hartford's leading scorer Pancake Thomas hit a three with four seconds left in the first half to send UAlbany into the locker room with a four-point advantage, 33-29.

At the break, Sanders topped all scorers with 12 points. UAlbany locked down on defense late in the first, as Hartford went just 3-for-19 (.158) to close the half.

Sanders and Stire both entered double digits in scoring early in the second period, as the Danes again stretched their lead to nine, 42-33. Two buckets from Stire gave Brown's squad its first double-digit lead as the clock ticked under the 10-minute mark, 53-43.

With a chance for UAlbany to get comfortable, Hartford's Thomas brought the margin back to single digits down the stretch. Joe Cremo scored six points in the final 3:32 to keep the leading scorer for the Hawks in check.

 UAlbany shot 47.5% (28-59) from the field in the 75-59 win, while Hartford went for a 37.1% (23-62) clip. The Great Danes out-rebounded the Hawks 47-26.

Evan Singletary led Will Brown & co., with 19 points, including 12 in the second half on senior night. He also dished out five assists. Greig Stire recorded his second consecutive career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore went 8-for-11 from the field.

The America East Playoff field is set, as UAlbany hosts Harford on Wednesday, March 2, at 7:00 p.m. The No. 2-No. 7 match-up marks the first time since 2002 the teams have met in the America East postseason, and the second overall.

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