Score: UAlbany 91, New Hampshire 67
 
Location: Broadview Center in Albany, N.Y.
 
Records: UAlbany (13-16, 5-9) | New Hampshire (15-12, 7-7)
 
Short Story: Men's basketball clinches a playoff berth with a 24-point victory over New Hampshire, led by Amar'e Marshall's double-double.
 
Key Stats

• Amar'e Marshall led all scorers with 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds
• Marshall scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game
• Aaron Reddish scored 20 points on 7-10 shooting
• Sebastian Thomas scored 19 points and recorded six assists and three steals
• UAlbany outscored New Hampshire 40-26 in the paint
• New Hampshire shot 56.5% in the first half, but 23.1% in the second
• UAlbany's defense held New Hampshire's Clarence Daniels, the America East's leading scorer, to eight points on 1-8 shooting 

Head Coach Dwayne Killings: "I thought tonight was a really good win for us.  I thought we did some decent things against UMass Lowell and Vermont, and we had two really competitive practices afterwards.  I thought our guys responded really well to them.  We really had the urgency to win today.  I was really impressed with how Aaron Reddish responded.  Sebastian is playing at a high level.  Amar'e going for 26 and 14.  Our bench was great, and our kids really wanted the game.  I thought we were the best team on the floor today."
 
How it Happened

• The University at Albany men's basketball team returned to Broadview Center on Thursday to host its first of two-straight home games this weekend to close out its 2023-24 regular-season home schedule.  Thursday's opponent was New Hampshire, the current fourth-place team in the America East.
• UAlbany had defeated New Hampshire in the first meeting between the teams, 86-79 in Durham.  In that game, Amar'e Marshall and Sebastian Thomas each scored 25 or more points to end a three-game losing streak.  Thursday's game against the Wildcats also came on the heels of a three-game skid for the Great Danes.
• New Hampshire boasted the leading scorer and rebounder in the conference, Clarence Daniels, who averaged 19.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.  Thomas ranked just behind Daniels in scoring, climbing to 19.2 points per game following his 42-point effort at UMass Lowell.
• The first minute of Thursday's game passed without a score before New Hampshire hit a three to take an early lead.  No team takes more three-point field goal attempts in the America East than the Wildcats' 27.4, nearly two more per game than the second-ranked team in the category, Vermont.  New Hampshire also led the conference, more narrowly, in made threes per game, but only ranked fifth in shooting percentage from deep.
• A second three just over 40 seconds later gave New Hampshire a 6-0 lead.  Marshall put UAlbany on the board on the Great Danes' ensuing possession, but New Hampshire immediately responded to keep their advantage at six.
• Thomas hit a three to spark an 7-0 run for the Great Danes to take a 9-8 lead with 16:20 left in the first half.  New Hampshire briefly took back the lead before UAlbany scored the next 11 points to lead 19-10 with 13:42 on the clock.
• Thomas hit a layup to give UAlbany a 28-18 lead with 8:11 to go in the first, the Great Danes' first double-digit lead of the evening.  New Hampshire cut the lead in half over the next minute of play, but UAlbany re-extended their lead to nine with 3:41 remaining before the break.
• Over the remainder of the first half, New Hampshire outscored UAlbany 11-5 to trail by just one, 42-41, at halftime.  Both teams had shot over 56% from the floor in the first 20 minutes, with UAlbany holding a small advantage.  The Great Danes' defense had held Daniels in check in the first half, allowing just two points on two free throws and no shots from the floor in 16 minutes.  The Wildcats' Trey Woodyard, however, picked up the slack, leading all scorers in the first period with 18 points on 6-8 shooting.
• Tyler Bertram hit one of his four threes on the evening with 18:01 left in the second half to kick-start a 10-0 Great Danes' run over the ensuing 90 seconds, forcing a New Hampshire timeout.  The 12-point, 57-45 lead was UAlbany's largest of the night so far.
• Back-to-back threes from Marshall, followed by a transition dunk from Aaron Reddish, capped off a 16-4 run for the Great Danes that gave the team an 80-56 lead with 7:40 remaining.  New Hampshire finally scored with 6:41 remaining to interrupt UAlbany's run, but Thomas responded immediately on the other end to maintain the Great Danes' 24-point lead.
• UAlbany led by as many as 26, and never led by fewer than 23, for the remainder of the game.  Marshall finished with a double-double, 26 points and 14 rebounds.  Reddish scored 20, and Thomas scored 19 with six assists and three steals.  New Hampshire had Woodyard finish with 21, while Daniels finished with eight on 1-8 shooting overall.  After shooting 56.5% in the first half, New Hampshire cooled off to hit just 23.1% of its shots in the second, including shooting 0-11 from three after the break. 

Game Notes

• Sebastian Thomas has moved into a tie for seventh place in single-season program history with 556 points this season, into ninth place with 146 assists, and into a tie for 10th place with 58 steals.
• The 2023-24 team now ranks fifth in single-season program history with 2,295 points scored.  The team has also taken over as the leading single-season Division I-era team with 244 steals, which ranks ninth in program history across all eras.

Next: UAlbany hosts its regular-season home finale, and Senior Day, against Maine on March 2.