The Men's Basketball Curse Is Lifted! UAlbany Defeats Stony Brook, 61-59, In Semis

ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany senior guard Mike Black did what he does best, hitting a last-second shot to push the Great Danes past Stony Brook, 61-59, in the America East Semifinals on Sunday, March 10 at SEFCU Arena. The 23 wins this season ties a Division I program record for most wins in a season. This is the first time in four years that UAlbany was able to defeat Stony Brook in the conference tournament, as the Seawolves bounced the Great Danes in the previous three meetings, including last season's last-second tip-in. The superhero tandem of Mike Black (16 points) and Jacob Iati (14 points) paced their squad, scoring a combined 30 of the team's 61 points. Before fouling out, sophomore forward Sam Rowley recorded five points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks on the night. Stony Brook (24-7) looked to own the first 20 minutes of the contest, going on a 7-0 run and grab the early 7-0 lead with 16:44 left in the half. The early Warney layup sparked the Seawolf run. UAlbany (23-10) responded back with 23-7 run that spanned over the next 12:21 to hold a 23-14 lead, with 4:23 remaining. The Great Danes held the Seawolf offense in check by not allowing a single point from the 10:55 mark to the 3:28 mark, which was a span of seven minutes. Back-to-back threes by Black and Iati, then a highlight dunk from Johnson to go on a 10-3 run tied the contest at 10, with 13:50 left to begin the run. Following an offensive miss, John Puk came down the middle of the paint and delivered a put back slam gave the Great Danes a 11-0 run to extend the lead to seven, 21-14, with 5:20 left. Each team traded baskets for the final four minutes, as UAlbany held a five-point lead, 28-23, going into the second half. Following a 0-for-6 start shooting from the field, the Great Danes finished the half, shooting 10-for-19 and were led by Iati's seven first-half points. Stony Brook came back in the second half, cutting the deficit to two, 35-33, with 11:41 remaining in the game. Seawolves' Dave Coley began the comeback with two quick baskets. UAlbany retaliated with a 14-6 run to extend its lead to 10, 49-39, with 5:46 left. Iati sparked the Great Dane offense with a runner in the lane and a three-pointer from the right elbow. Seawolves' Coley hit the next 3-of-4 free-throws to bring the game within seven, 49-42, with 4:27 left. Great Danes' Peter Hooley came back with his trademark three from right corner to keep the lead to 10, 52-42, with 3:58 remaining. With a UAlbany six-point lead, 58-52, at the 1:11 mark, Stony Brook rattled off five quick points to cut the deficit to one, 58-57, with 33 seconds left. The Seawolves' Carson Puriefoy hit a big three and America East Player of the Year, having not scored a single point to this mark, hit two free-throws to bring his team within a point. Following a Luke Devlin made free-throw to put the game up two, 59-57, Stony Brook's Davy Coley hit the lane, was fouled and hit both free throws to tie the game at 59 with 12 seconds left. As the inbounds was passed in, Coach Brown signaled Mike Black to do what he does best, win games, and he did so with the same exact drive down the lane as he did in Seattle, Washington to defeat the University of Washington to push the Great Danes to the America East Finals. The Great Danes will play the University of Vermont on Saturday, March 16 in Patrick Gym for the America East Conference Tournament Championship.