| Follow @UVMmbb
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Evan Singletary drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break a 44-44 tie and lift the Albany Great Danes to a 47-44 win over Vermont in a battle for first place in America East men's basketball at Patrick Gymnasium on Wednesday. Albany remains unbeaten in league play with an 8-0 mark and moves to 13-7 overall. Vermont suffers its second conference loss (6-2) and falls to 11-10 on the year.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights
Photo Gallery A basket by Sam Rowley with 2:08 left in the game gave Albany a seven-point lead, 43-36. Vermont freshman
Trae Bell-Haynes answered with a 3-pointer to slice the lead to four and
Kurt Steidl made a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left to bring UVM within two, 43-41.
The Catamounts' full court pressure forced an Albany turnover with 33 seconds left. Coming out of a UVM timeout, Bell-Haynes was fouled on a drive to the hoop. He made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left to cut Albany's lead to one, 43-42.
Singletary was fouled after the miss at the line by Bell-Haynes. He made one of two free throw chances to give the Great Danes a two-point cushion with 28 seconds remaining.
Following an Albany timeout,
Dre Wills cut the basket got a feed from O'Day and dunked to tie the game up at 44 with 16 seconds left.
Albany came down the court, Singletary got the ball on the left wing and drained the game-winning shot. Vermont inbounded the ball, but Steidl's last-second heave from halfcourt was off the mark.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball to start the game. The Catamounts missed their first six shots, while the Great Danes were 1-for-5 from the field.
Vermont trailed 3-0, but rattled off eight straight points to take an 8-3 lead at the 12:05 mark of the first half. Albany came back and a layup by Mike Rowley tied the game up at 11 with 5:14 remaining in the half. The Great Danes out scored Vermont 14-6 over the final five minutes to take a 25-17 lead into halftime.
Rowley led all scorers with 18 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to pace the Great Danes. Singletary finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and Ray Sanders added a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.
O'Day scored a team-high 10 points and added six rebounds and a career-high five blocks to lead Vermont.
Vermont begins the second round of conference play at Hartford on Saturday (Jan. 31). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Chase Arena. The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online:
1013ESPN.com) with A.J. Kanell calling the action. The game will also be broadcast online via
ESPN3.com.