QU Men's Basketball Comes Up Short Against Albany 58-54

Tuesday, December 1

Hamden, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

2-3

University at Albany

5-3

Albany

Quinnipiac

QU Men's Basketball Comes Up Short Against Albany 58-54

12/1/2015 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Conn. - Junior guard Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla. - pictured) had a game-high 19 points, including 17 in the second half, but Albany was able to make the key plays down the stretch and earn a 58-54 win over the Bobcats on Tuesday night at the T.D. Bank Sports Center.

The loss drops Quinnipiac to 2-3 on the year, while suffering its first home loss after two straight wins over Holy Cross and N.C. Central last week. Albany improves to 5-3 on the year with the win, including 1-3 on the road to go with a 4-0 home mark.

Harris hit two consecutive three-pointers to turn a 48-42 deficit into a 48-48 tie with 6:48 to go. Albany's Joe Cremo scored to put the Great Danes ahead 50-48, and Harris followed with a jumper to knot the score back up 50-50. A foul shot from sophomore guard Dimitri Floras (Nashua, N.H.) with 5:24 to go put the Bobcats ahead 51-50, which was answered by a foul shot by Ray Sanders at the 4:59 mark. A lay-up from sophomore forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) leveled the score at 53-53 with 3:42 to go, but the Bobcats wouldn't score again until a Harris free throw in the final seconds.

Down the stretch, Albany made one foul shot on three different occasions to take a 56-53 lead, with Cremo giving the Great Danes the lead for good with one at the 3:14 mark. The Bobcats had two chances to tie in the final minute, but Daniels missed in close trying to draw a foul and senior guard Giovanni McLean (Bronx, N.Y.) had his shot in traffic in the paint deflected with five seconds left and Quinnipiac down 55-53.

The first half was a defensive battle, with the Bobcats taking a 26-23 lead into the break after shooting 30.8 percent (12-39) to 23.1 percent from Albany (6-26). The Great Danes were able to take a lead of as many as six points in the second half, which was erased by the six quick points on two three-pointers from Harris, which came after the Bobcats were just 1-17 from beyond the arc (before finishing 3-21).

Sanders led four Albany players in double figures with 12 points, while Cremo had 11 and Mike Rowley and Evan Singletary each had 10. McLean was the only player besides Harris in double figures for Quinnipiac with 12. The Bobcats blocked 13 shots as a team, led by four from junior forward Donovan Smith (Chicago, Il.) and three apiece from Daniels and sophomore forward Samuel Dingba (Yaounde, Cameroon).

Quinnipiac is back in action this weekend when it travels to Buffalo to begin MAAC play, facing Niagara on Friday at 7 p.m. and Canisius on Saturday at 7 p.m.