Game Highlights (Video)


ALBANY, NY—In a game that was close throughout, it came down to NJIT inbounding the ball in the frontcourt and in front of its own bench, down a point with 7/10 of a second remaining. UAlbany's 6-foot-11 junior Richard Peters, pressuring the inbounds pass, got a piece of it and the horn sounded with his team hanging on, 74-73, vs. NJIT in men's non-conference basketball Friday night in SEFCU Arena on the UAlbany campus.
 
The win lifted the 3-time defending America East Conference champion Great Danes to 3-3 in the young season, while NJIT, which dropped its second game this week (lost 83-76 at undefeated Providence of the BIG EAST Monday night) is 3-3, as well.
 
The back-to-back defeats for the Highlanders comprise their first consecutive losses since late last December, when they lost to #7 Villanova on the 20th and to eventual Patriot League champ Lafayette on the 28th, both on the road. NJIT had been 19-5 since those two losses.
 
Friday night's game was close all the way, with neither team leading by more than 6 points at any time and the score being tied 15 times and the lead changing hands 11 times.
 
The 15th tie came when Damon Lynn, who scored a game-high 23 points, including seven 3-point baskets--his most in a game this season and two shy of his school-record nine--hit his seventh three of the night to tie the score at 73 apiece with 8 seconds left.
 
On the other end, UAlbany senior Peter Hooley, a two-time America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, who had a quiet night, with 6 points until his team's final possession, drove down the right side of the lane and took a falling away half-jump shot, half-layup.
 
Hooley's shot missed, but NJIT was called for a foul, the 26th whistle of the night against the Highlanders—10 more than the number called against the home team. Hooley missed the first try with just over a second left, but he made the second, giving UAlbany a one-point lead.
 
NJIT attempted a full-court pass from under its own defensive basket, but the pass was tipped out of bounds by the Great Danes, setting up the final play with 7/10 of a second remaining.
 
For a game that was close on the scoreboard, the final box score showed some contrasts in important statistical categories, some favoring UAlbany and some favoring NJIT.
 
With Lynn's seven threes leading the way, NJIT shot 13-for-28 from downtown, while the Great Danes were 4-for-16 from distance.
 
In addition to Lynn, Tim Coleman and Winfield Willis each scored 13 points and Willis was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and Coleman made a three, as well (1-for-3).
 
UAlbany's top scorer was freshman guard Joe Cremo, who played 23 minutes as a reserve and scored 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers. Senior starting guards Ray Sanders and Evan Singletary added 15 points and 14 points, respectively
 
The Great Danes enjoyed a 36-24 lead in total team rebounds, paced by 10 from junior Mike Rowley, who, like Hooley, is a native of Australia. Peters, the 6-foot-11 junior, added 7 rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Rowley, a 6-foot-8 forward also handed out a game-leading 5 assists.
 
UAlbany's rebounding lead was tied to a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points. Meanwhile, NJIT committed just 10 turnovers and made 9 steals—two each for Coleman, Ky Howard, Lynn, and Willis—which helped fuel a 14-8 advantage for the visitors in points off turnovers.
 
UAlbany took advantage of the foul disparity by scoring 20 points on free throws (20-30). NJIT, which did not attempt a free throw in a first half that was tied 33-33 after 20 minutes, was awarded 11 free throws in the second half and made 10 (90.9 percent).
 
The 33-33 first half featured nine ties and seven lead changes, with no lead bigger than six. Cremo and Singletary, with 10 points each, were the game-high scorers in the opening half, while Lynn and Willis each had 8 for the Highlanders, followed by 7 for Ky Howard.
 
NJIT scored the first four points in the second half and a 3-point basket by Willis put the visitors on top 40-35 with 17:39 remaining.
 
About two minutes later, at 15:36, Lynn drilled another three for a 45-39 advantage and NJIT's biggest lead. Peters answered with a conventional 3-point play on the next possession and Cremo hit the second of two foul shots to trim the Highlander lead to 45-43 with 14:13 left.
 
Terrence Smith scored for the Highlanders, but Rowley had a tip-in and Sanders made a steal and fast-break layup for the game's 11th tie, 47 all, with 13:09 remaining.
 
The teams traded baskets, with three more ties in two-and-half minutes, before Sanders got another basket-and-one 3-point play to put UAlbany ahead 57-54 with 8:55 left.
 
Lynn answered with a 3-point basket, but Jamir Andrews made two foul shots and Hooley scored a fast-break layup to put the home team back up by four with 6:50 left.
 
Hooley made two foul shots for a 65-59 Great Dane lead with 5:47 on the clock and the home team still led by 6 with 2:50 on the clock.
 
But Lynn made two 3-pointers in the last 1:18, sandwiched around a Coleman layup, resulting in the 73-73 tie that preceded Hooley's winning foul shot and Peters' deflection on NJIT's attempted inbounds pass in the final second. 
 
NJIT will return to action on Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, when the Highlanders host Maine Fort Kent in the Fleisher Athletic Center.