UAlbany Men's Basketball Extends Win Streak to Four Straight in 75-57 Victory Against Sacred Heart

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. – Brian Lillis and Brian Connelly each scored 12 points as UAlbany rallied in the second half for a 75-57 victory over Sacred Heart on Sunday, Nov. 25 at SEFCU Arena. The Great Danes, who have won four in a row, are off to their best start with a 4-1 record since the 1996-97 campaign.

Sacred Heart (0-6) led 44-42 after Corey Hassan made a pair of free throws with 12:18 remaining. UAlbany responded with 12 of the game’s next 13 points to go ahead for good. Tim Ambrose ignited that stretch with five of his nine points. Ambrose converted a driving right-hander and then made a three-point play when he was fouled on a spinning turnaround from left of the lane. Connelly later followed with a 6-foot jumper in the lane. Jerel Hastings and Jon Iati each sank two fouls shots for a 54-45 advantage.

UAlbany’s Brett Gifford would push his team’s lead to double figures by scoring off an offensive rebound with 3:37 to play. The Great Danes, who made 26 of 34 from the free throw line, padded their margin by netting 13 of their final 17 points from the charity stripe.

“We played a good ten minutes of basketball,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team had lost the previous two years to Sacred Heart, the Northeast Conference preseason favorite. “We had a couple of bad practices coming into the game and it showed. We did a decent job defensively in the second half and got the balance (offensively) we were looking for.”

The first half produced 17 lead changes and two ties. UAlbany ran off seven straight points en route to a 27-20 cushion. Hastings buried an 18-foot jumper and canned a three-point field goal from the left corner to put his team in front. Freshman guard Josh Martin, who had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench, connected on a drive to give the Great Danes their biggest lead of the period.

The Pioneers regrouped to take a 32-31 margin to the intermission. Ryan Litke, who had 10 points, drilled a three-pointer from the right wing off a handoff from Chauncey Hardy for a 29-28 lead. UAlbany’s Martin answered with a 3-point field goal from the top of key, before Litke rifled in a 22-footer from the left side with 21 seconds left before the break.

“We didn’t play well defensively in the first half,” offered Connelly, who made 6-of-10 from the floor in reaching double figures for the second time this season. “We lost our assignments and there was no communication. Coach (Brown) had some strong words for us at halftime.”

Drew Shubik had 12 points for the Pioneers, who were held to 28-percent shooting in the second half on 7-of-25 attempts. Brice Brooks and Hassan added nine points apiece. Hastings finished with a career-high nine points and five rebounds for the Great Danes, who have won 19 of their last 21 at home.

“They took away passing lanes and were disrupted with their pressure,” explained Hastings, whose team shot 50 percent from the field in the final period. “We finally got ourselves together by playing good defense.”