Boise State Rallies in the Second Half to Defeat UAlbany in Basketball BracketBusters' Rematch

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. – Anthony Thomas scored 11 of his 15 points in the final four minutes of play as Boise State rallied for a 74-68 victory over UAlbany in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Dec. 22 at SEFCU Arena.

UAlbany (5-6) built a 51-37 advantage with 16:32 remaining when Brian Lillis hit a slum dunk off a steal by Jerel Hastings. Boise State (8-3) responded with an 11-3 run to get back into the contest. Tyler Tiedeman, who had 14 points, buried a three-point field goal from the left corner and scored off a duck-under move in the lane to begin the run. Reggie Larry, a 6-foot-6 senior who had 22 points and 12 rebounds, slammed home a pair of baskets to close the gap to 54-48.

The Great Danes, who had won 20 of their last 22 home games, were still ahead 62-57 when Hastings drilled a baseline jumper. But Thomas, who made 5-of-7 from the floor, went to work down the stretch. He gave the Broncos the lead for good at with a 16-foot jumper in the circle and then converted a drive for a 68-65 lead.

Lillis, a 6’5” senior who led the Great Danes with 16 points, sliced the margin to one with a 12-footer on the left baseline off the dribble. Thomas, the Western Athletic Conference’s top freshman last year, answered with a layup off a back-door cut and Paul Noonan sank a pair of free throws for a 72-67 cushion with 28.2 seconds to play.

“We knew it was going to hard-fought and we were going to have to play 40 minutes,” said Thomas, who hit the game winning shot in last year’s 83-82 BracketBusters victory over UAlbany. “They bumped us and were physical. I knew the lanes would open up later in the game when they were expected the ball to go inside.”

In the first half, each team was hot from the field at better than 50 percent. Boise State led 21-20 on a slam dunk in transition by Larry, who scored 12 in the period. UAlbany went back ahead on Brian Connelly's foul-line jumper. The Great Danes still led 36-34, but then tallied eight of the game's next 10 points. Lillis had a pair of baskets, while Jon Iati canned a three-pointer from right of the key in that sequence.

Freshman guard Josh Martin had all 15 of his points in the opening half and added six assists for the Great Danes, who shot just 30.8 percent from the field in the final stanza. The Broncos, who had not played since Dec. 13, have now won five of six road games this season.

“We lost to a very good team,” said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team was coming off a loss to Duke, the nation’s sixth-ranked squad. “We had them on the ropes and we let them get out of here with a win. I am disappointed that our team lacked both communication and execution over the last five minutes."