Albany Great Danes Get First NCAA Tournament Win

The Albany Great Danes earned their first NCAA Tournament victory last night in Dayton, Ohio as they defeated Mount St. Mary's 71-64 to advance to tomorrow's game against the top team in the country the Florida Gators. The Great Danes face the Gators in Orlando in a scheduled 4:10 PM start.

Albany started out on a dominating run to jump out to a 13-0 lead and then upped that to 21-2 as the Mountaineers misfired on their first 11 shots.  But the Mount then turned the tables on Albany with a run of 18-0 to cut their deficit to a single point.   Albany was up 35-31 at the half.

In the second half both teams battled back and forth and with 2:43  left it was an Albany lead of 67-64.  The Great Danes iced the game in the closing seconds at the free throw line and went 15-19 at the charity stripe in the game.

Guard DJ Evans led all scorers with 22 points.  Peter Hooley followed with  20 points.  Will Miller scored 21 points with seven three-point baskets for the Mountaineers..

The win was Albany's first in the NCAA Tournament after three defeats.  With the  win the Great Danes go to 19-14.  Florida finished their SEC season undefeated at 18-0 and overall bring a 32-2 overall slate into the game. They have not lost since December 2 when Connecticut defeated them 65-64.