BOX SCORE

ALBANY, N.Y. – Despite a 16-point lead in the first half, University at Albany men's basketball (1-2) fell 76-73 to Quinnipiac (2-1) in overtime at SEFCU Arena on Saturday night.

“I thought we fought and battled,” said head coach Will Brown. “We had chances to win the game. My biggest concern was Quinnipiac's size; but we did a good job on the glass. We got off to a slow start in the second half and in overtime. You live and you learn; it's the third game in. We've had some good tests early, so it's an opportunity to grow and get better.”

The Great Danes started the game off 3-for-4 from the field on lay-ups from Sam Rowley, Peter Hooley and Ray Sanders. UAlbany opened up a 20-6 lead on a 14-point unanswered run mid-way through the first half.

Hooley hit a three as the shot clock expired with 11 minutes left in the first half. The junior capped a five-minute period of time when UAlbany went 4-for-6 from the field with no turnovers. At the under-four media timeout in the first half, UAlbany was shooting 12-for-26 from the field (46.2%), while Quinnipiac was just 6-for-22 (27.3%).

In the midst of its biggest lead of the game with eight minutes left in the first half, the UAlbany bench scored the final 15 points of the period. Wheeler Baker hit two threes in 11 minutes, while Greig Stire scored five straight points to open up a 14-point lead.

Despite both teams entering the bonus early on in the half, the teams only combined to shoot 18 free throws in the first period.

Will Brown's squad concluded the first half with a 35-26 lead, including 21 points from the bench.

The Bobcats did not go away quietly, as Quinnipiac hit two early baskets to narrow the UAlbany lead to four. Two baskets from Mike Rowley extended the Purple & Gold lead to eight.

The Great Danes went without a field goal for four minutes with three turnovers. A Richard Peters lay-in ended the drought with 12:40 left in the second half.

Quinnipiac took the lead for the first time since the opening basket with 10 minutes left. A three from Dimitri Floras gave the Bobcats a four-point lead before Hooley hit a three to end a three-minute scoring drought.

Evan Singletary hit a three on the kick-out from Hooley with seven minutes to go, 52-50.

Sanders drained another big three with four minutes left to tie the game at 55. Mike Rowley notched his eighth point of the half on a lay-up from Singletary to keep the game within reach. Singletary hit his second three in five minutes to tie the game at 60 with under three minutes remaining in the second half.

With the game tied at 62 after 40 minutes, UAlbany entered its first overtime contest of the 2014-15 season.

Hooley and Sanders combined for UAlbany's 11 points in overtime, but Quinnipiac took a five-point lead just 45 seconds into extra time. The Bobcats maintained the momentum to take a 76-73 win.

Hooley led UAlbany with 17 points, including 12 combined in the second half and overtime. Sam Rowley topped the Great Danes on the boards with eight total.

Will Brown's squad looks to rebound from a tight loss at Colgate (1-2) on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.