Score: Bucknell 65, UAlbany 64

Location: Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.

Records: UAlbany (5-5); Bucknell (4-7)

Short story: Men's basketball sees double-digit leads evaporate in a tough loss at Bucknell, 65-64.

Key stats

• Cameron Healy has hit a three-pointer in 42-straight games
• Healy finished with double-double with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds
• UAlbany committed 12 turnovers in the first half
• Bucknell shot 6-27 from the floor in the first half, but 8-9 from the free-throw line
• Bucknell shot 51.9% in the second half

Coach Brown: “We did a pretty good job in the first half, and then we started turning the ball over and allowed them to get back into the game.  A lot of the first half was self-inflicted on our end, and then in the second half, we didn't play a lot of smart basketball.  We're putting too much pressure on Ahmad and Cameron to create offense.  This is a game that we should have closed out, but we didn't make plays when we need to, and we didn't play smart basketball.”

Recap

Kicking off a two-game road set, the University at Albany men's basketball team visited Bucknell Saturday night in search of their fourth victory in five games.  After leading by double digits in both the first and the second halves, UAlbany saw Bucknell claw back to claim a 65-64 victory, outscoring the Great Danes by nine in the second half.

Following a scoreless minute, Ahmad Clark drove to the basket and drew a foul.  He hit both free throws to give UAlbany the early 2-0 lead.  Clark scored five of UAlbany's first seven points.

With 15:57 remaining in the first, UAlbany had built a 7-3 lead, with Antonio Rizzuto headed to the free-throw line.  Rizzuto hit both free throws to push the Danes' lead to nine.

Clark hit a three to put UAlbany up 11 with just over 13 minutes left in the first half.  Clark had scored 10 of UAlbany's first 17 points.  A quick transition dunk from Clark to Kendall Lauderdale put UAlbany up 19-6, forcing Bucknell to take a timeout.

Lauderdale scored again to go up 21-6 following the timeout.  Bucknell responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 21-12.  Lauderdale broke Bucknell's run with a layup with 8:24 remaining.

With 6:54 to go in the first, Cameron Healy drained a three from the top right corner, extending his made-threes streak to 42 games, putting UAlbany back up 10, 26-16.

Bucknell was able to close within eight by the end of the half, and trailed UAlbany heading into the locker room 32-24 after hitting a three with six seconds left in the first.

Clark led UAlbany at the break with 11 points, while the Great Danes shot 52.4% from the floor over the first 20 minutes.  Healy had snagged eight rebounds, and also dished three assists.  The Great Danes had committed 12 turnovers in the first half, hitting their full-game average on the season.  UAlbany outscored Bucknell 9-0 off the bench and 14-2 in the paint.

Bucknell quickly closed to within five coming of the locker room before UAlbany went back up by seven. 

With 14:31 left in the second, following two free throws from Clark, Trey Hutcheson hit a three from the top right corner to put UAlbany back up by 10, 41-31.  The Danes' run extended to 7-0 when Healy hit two free throws to go up 43-31.

The Great Danes held the Bison scoreless for nearly three minutes before letting up another basket.  Following their drought, the Bison went on a 10-0 run to close their deficit to just two with 10:35 left in the second half.  Clark responded immediately with a jumper on the other end to break Bucknell's scoring streak.

Bucknell closed within one with 9:57 with a layup and-one, and took the lead on their next possession on a layup in transition, 46-45 with 9:31 remaining.  Brent Hank tied the game at 46 with 9:02 to go after hitting one of two free throws.

Trailing by two, Healy drained another three to put UAlbany back up by one.  Bucknell soon built a four-point lead, before Healy hit a contested three from the top of the arc to cut the Danes' deficit to 55-54 with 4:24 remaining.

By the final media timeout, Bucknell has grown its lead to 59-54.  Out of the timeout, Lauderdale went to the line and hit one of two free throws, but saw the miss on the second put back with a dunk from Hutcheson to bring the lead down to two.

Bucknell managed to pull back ahead by four with 2:31 remaining, and again with 1:37 remaining.  With 14 seconds to go, UAlbany came within one after a layup from Lauderdale, but Bucknell hit two free throws to go up by three with 10 seconds remaining.  Rizzuto hit a layup at the buzzer, but only brought the Danes within one at the final horn, 65-64.

Clark finished the game with 18 points on 5-10 shooting and 6-8 from the line.  Healy finished with a career-high 11 rebounds to go with 15 points, three assists, and two steals.  UAlbany led by as many as 15 in the first half, and by as many as 12 in the second half, only to see the Bison pull off the comeback victory.

Up next: The Great Danes visit ACC opponent Boston College on Tuesday, December 10, before hosting the final home game of 2019 on Saturday, December 14 against Niagara.