Men's Basketball Score: Hartford 72, UAlbany 64

Location: Albany, N.Y. – SEFCU Arena

Records: UAlbany (12-4, 0-1 AE), Hartford (8-7, 1-0 AE)

Short Story: The UAlbany men's basketball team rallied from down 20 to tie the game late in the second half, but fell to Hartford 72-64 in its America East opener on Wednesday night.

Key Stats:

• UAlbany: Joe Cremo played all 40 minutes, notching 23 points and six assists, while David Nichols earned 20 points and a pair of steals.
• Hartford: John Carroll finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. J.R. Lynch also had 17 points, adding four assists.  Hartford shot 50% from three-point range and 100% (13-for-13) from the free throw line.
• Greig Stire earned 14 rebounds, one shy of tying the single game program record. Stire shares in this single game record, previously having 15 in a game last season.
• UAlbany allowed just one field goal in the final 11:43 of the game.

Key Situations:

• 14:18-13:00 1st half: UAlbany primarily uses the fast break to put together a 7-0 run, capped by a long jumper by David Nichols, to lead 16-12.
• 12:38-8:26 1st half: Hartford scores 14 consecutive points, started by threes from John Carroll and J.R. Lynch, to go ahead 26-16.
• 11:43-2:07 2nd half: Down 20, UAlbany holds Hartford to one field goal in the final 11:44 of the game. UAlbany surges forward with a 21-2 run, with almost all scoring coming from Nichols, Joe Cremo and Devonte Campbell, to tie the game at 61-61.
• 1:44-0:30 2nd half: Hartford outscores UAlbany 11-3 in the final two minutes, with all Hawk points coming on free throws. 

Quote: “To come back from 20 points takes a lot of energy, but we put ourselves in that position.  We played smart to get back from down 20, but we needed to finish.” – UAlbany head coach Will Brown

Recap: The UAlbany men's basketball team rallied from down 20 for a tie game with two minutes left in the America East home opener, but fell to Hartford 72-64 on Wednesday night. 

Action was high-flying in the first couple of minutes as both sides traded shots back and forth.  Including a couple of scores from Hassen Attia for Hartford and a layup and one from Joe Cremo, the two teams were tied at 9-9 at the first media timeout.

After Hartford went back up with a three, three different UAlbany players contributed to a 7-0 run, capped by a long jumper on a fast break by David Nichols, to take a 16-12 advantage seven minutes in.

Hartford used the perimeter and running into the paint to go on a 14-0 run, started by threes from John Carroll and J.R. Lynch, to take a 26-16 lead with 8:26 left in the 1st.

UAlbany started to fire away from three, chipping away with long range makes by Nichols and Cremo. With 6:37 to play in the 1st, Nichols hit another three to pull UAlbany within five, down 29-24.

Hartford rebuilt the lead to 12 after Travis Weatherington hit a corner three with 1:50 left in the 1st.  UAlbany got to within single digits in the final minute, but a John Carroll jumper gave Hartford a 41-31 advantage at the break.

Hartford's strong shooting continued into the second half, beginning the period on an 11-4 run, fueled five points from Weatherington, to lead 52-35 by the half's first media.

UAlbany's defense held Hartford without points for over two-and-a-half minutes, adding a Greig Stire tip-in to start chipping away.  The Hawks continued to score long range, pushing the lead to 20 with 11:44 left at 59-39 Hartford.

Attacking with the fast break, UAlbany looked to come back.  UAlbany looked to its guards for jumpers and perimeter shooting against the Hartford zone.  Cremo got the comeback going with a three, then Devonte Campbell added free throws.  Going to the paint in the next couple of possessions, UAlbany chipped away to 10 with 7:12 left at 59-49.

Spurred on by the crowd, UAlbany continued to rally, adding threes from Cremo and Nichols to pull to six.  The defense continued to hold off Hartford as Cremo hit a floater, then four consecutive free throws, completing a 22-2 run and tying the game at 61-61 with two minutes to play.

Hartford got fouled with 1:49 left, with Carroll hitting three straight free throws.  Jason Dunne added two more, then after another change of possession, Lynch put two in.  Nichols hit a three to bring UAlbany back within four, but that is as close as the Great Danes came.  Four more free throws helped seal the game for Hartford 72-64.

UAlbany hits the road for its next conference game, taking on New Hampshire on Saturday, January 6th at 1 p.m.