Tim Ambrose Leads University of Albany Men's Basketball Past Stony Brook - UAlbany Sports 2011

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Tim Ambrose had 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds as UAlbany survived Stony Brook's second-half comeback with a 52-50 victory in America East Conference play on Monday, Jan. 17 at Pritchard Gymnasium.

UAlbany (9-12, AE 2-4) broke a 33-33 halftime deadlock with six straight points to start the period. Ambrose connected on a three-point play when he was fouled after scoring on a follow shot. Mike Black canned a three-pointer from right of the key.

The Great Danes, who won for the first time on the road since Dec. 22, extended their margin to as much as 11 on two occasions. Ambrose, a 6-foot senior who recorded his third career triple-double, drilled a three-point field goal from the right wing for a 51-40 lead midway through the period.

Stony Brook (7-10, AE 2-3) was coming off a double-overtime victory against New Hampshire two days ago and looked to repeat that performance with a strong defensive effort the rest of the way. The Seawolves held the visitors without a field goal to the end and 7-of-23 shooting after the intermission. Meanwhile, Dallas Joyner put back a missed 3-pointer and Bryan Dougher nailed a 17-foot jumper to bring their team within 51-50.

UAlbany's John Puk was fouled on a slam dunk attempt on the right baseline and made one of two free throws with 18 seconds left. Luke Devlin (6 points) collected his 10th rebound of the game with Puk's missed foul shot. After being fouled, the freshman missed the front end of a one-and-one. Dougher could only get off an off-balance three-point attempt from the top of the arc on the last possession.

"We had to communicate on that last play and switch on everything," Ambrose said. "We came out with energy and played together at the start of the second half. (Jacob) Iati did a good job of shadowing Dougher. We just missed shots on offense. They played better on defense, but we also missed some easy looks."

In the opening half, UAlbany took a 27-24 lead on Ambrose's three-point field from left of the key. The Seawolves went back in front when Danny Carter hit a slam dunk following a steal and pushed out to a 33-29 advantage. Dougher, who led all scorers with 20 points and was 6-of-13 from the arc, made a long-range shot from in front of the UAlbany bench. Devlin helped the Great Danes draw even at the break by scoring with an offensive rebound and two free throws.

"(Bryan) Dougher was terrific, but we got a (defensive) stop when it mattered," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team was coming off a couple close losses to Maine and Boston University. "A loss would have been devastating, especially when you hold a team to 50 points on the road. Stony Brook cranked up their defense in the second half. It was a good team win for us."
Marcus Rouse had 10 points, all in the first half, for the Seawolves, who had five in a row in this series, including last year's America East Tournament quarterfinal victory. UAlbany's Logan Aronhalt finished with 11 points.

Paw Prints: UAlbany ended a five-game slide in the series ... Stony Brook holds a 13-12 edge in 25 Division I meetings ... Tim Ambrose has 1,391 points and 521 rebounds as a collegian .. SBU's Bryan Dougher reached the 1,000-point plateau in the second half ... Luke Devlin recorded his fourth 10-plus rebound effort of the season ... Devlin was named the America East Conference Rookie of the Week for the third time earlier in the day ... the Great Danes have been involved in six games decided by two points or less this season ... UAlbany hosts Binghamton on Thursday, Jan. 20 in a game that will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports.


Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information