BOSTON - Albany guard Jamar Wilson scored a game-high 20 points, including a key three-pointer in the waning moments to lead the America East-leading Great Danes to a 53-47 victory over Boston University Thursday night. The Terriers (5-10, 2-2) dropped their second straight league game and lost for the first time in 12 contests at The Roof. Albany (9-6, 5-0) won its seventh consecutive game - a Division I first for the Great Danes - and beat BU for the first time ever. BU was playing its first home game since Dec. 8.
BU led 28-26 at halftime, but went nearly seven minutes without a basket at the opening of the second half and watched Albany leap out to a 10-points lead, 38-28. The Terriers would creep back to within two, 39-37, as senior forward Kevin Gardner completed a three-point play with 9:52 remaining. Albany's lead was four, 45-41, when Terrier guard Corey Hassan missed the front end of a one-and-one - Hassan had made 17 consecutive free throws coming in to the game. Wilson then put a dagger in the Terrier's comeback bid with a three from the top of the key to increase the Great Dane lead to seven, 48-41 with 5:41 remaining. A pair of Gardner layups brought BU to within two, 49-47, but Wilson was 4-4 from the free-throw line in the final 27 seconds to ice the win for Albany.
"I don't think we can play much harder defensively," said BU head coach Dennis Wolff, whose Terriers had been 8-0 against Albany since the Great Danes joined the America East in 2001-02. "We were just not able to execute offensively, which caused us to have that monstrous drought."
Gardner was a force for BU, scoring a team-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half. In fact, he scored the Terriers' first 10 points after intermission, and BU did not have a basket by a player other than Gardner until Brian Macon hit a 3-pointer with 7:31 remaining. Omari Peterkin was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 11 points, however foul trouble and a stiff Albany zone limited him to no points and just one shot in the second half.
Brent Wilson scored 15 points for Albany, including 10 in the second half. He hit 3-5 from beyond the arc after intermission, including a pair of 3-pointers in the span of 63 seconds to help turn a 30-28 Great Dane lead into a 38-28 advantage. Jamar Wilson had 10 at the break and 10 more in the second half. He finished just 4-11 from the field, but was 9-10 from the line and had a game-high eight rebounds.
BU came out a bit flat, and fell behind 7-0 before two free throws by Gardner got the Terriers on the board at the 16:27 mark. BU cut the deficit to one, 13-12, before an 8-0 Albany run had the Great Danes on top 21-12 with 8:58 remaining. Peterkin then took over, scoring seven straight points to pace a 14-0 BU run and give the Terriers their largest lead, 26-21. After UA tied the game, Peterkin scored again with 34 seconds left in the half to give BU its two-point halftime edge.
The Terriers shot just 36.2% from the field, and were just 2-16 from 3-point land. Hassan struggled, scoring just three points on 1-9 shooting, including 1-8 from beyond the arc. He still hit a three in his 15th straight game, but the league-leader in triples coming in, matched his lowest-scoring effort of the season. BU held Albany to 34.9% from the field, but the Great Danes hit 9-24 3-pointers.
BU will be home again on Sunday, January 15, when the Terriers take on Binghamton. Game time is 1 p.m. at The Roof.. To purchase tickets for Terrier home games, or for more information, click here or visit the Ticket Office at 925 Commonwealth Avenue, Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., or call 617-353-GOBU (4628).
