Philadelphia, P.A. (NEWS10) — UAlbany men’s basketball comes up just shy in a first-ever meeting with Saint Joseph’s, 67-64.

Key Stats

  • Jarvis Doles led UAlbany with 13 points
  • Kellon Taylor scored 11 points with nine rebounds
  • Jamel Horton made his first start of the season
  • UAlbany shot 1-7 to close the first half, on a scoreless run of 2:50
  • St. Joe’s outscored UAlbany 18-10 in the paint in the first half
  • St. Joe’s shot 60% in the first half
  • UAlbany went scoreless for the final 2:38, shooting 1-7 to close out the game
  • St. Joe’s closed the game on a 5-0 run

“We got off to a slow start today, but from that point on we were solid,” head coach Will Brown said. “We had too many self-inflicted mistakes and too many careless plays. If there’s a positive, we put ourselves in a position to win down the stretch again, but we didn’t do it. Saint Joseph’s did a good job of not allowing us to get into any rhythm. But our defense has put us in a position to win all these games this season, and the next step for us is to start hitting that 70-point marker. We have to help ourselves out more than we’re doing right now.”

How it Happened

  • Saint Joseph’s opened the game on a 6-2 run.  With 17:14 left in the first, Antonio Rizzuto hit a three to cut UAlbany’s deficit to one. St. Joe’s scored the next seven-straight points to take a 13-5 lead.
  • With 10:25 left in the first, St. Joe’s took its largest lead of the game, 10 points, capping off another 7-0 run.  UAlbany responded with a 13-3 run to tie the game at 26 with 6:31 left in the half when CJ Kelly hit a deep two. Kellon Taylor gave UAlbany its first lead of the night shortly after, 30-28, with 5:01 left in the first.
  • The Hawks took a one-point, 34-33 lead into halftime. UAlbany closed the half shooting 1-7 from the floor and had gone scoreless for the final 2:50. St. Joe’s, however, also ended the half on a scoring drought which lasted the final 1:42. The Hawks shot 60% from the floor in the first 20 minutes, and had outscored UAlbany 18-10 in the paint, but the Great Danes held a 7-2 advantage in second-chance scoring.
  • UAlbany conceded the first four points of the second half but tied the game at 38 after a 5-0 run. With 12:29 to go, Trey Hutcheson put UAlbany back on top with a jumper, 47-45, as part of a 7-0 Great Dane run. A three from Rizzuto with 9:10 to go gave UAlbany their biggest lead of the night, 56-48.
  • Trailing by seven, St. Joe’s started clawing back with just under seven minutes left in the game. They tied the score at 59 after a pair of free throws to cap off a 7-0 run with 5:48 remaining. Rizzuto ended the Hawks’ run with a three on the Great Danes’ next possession.
  • After CJ Kelly put UAlbany up 64-62 with 2:38 to go, St. Joe’s held UAlbany scoreless for the remainder of the game, outscoring the Great Danes 5-0 down the stretch. On three consecutive possessions, the Hawks grabbed offensive rebounds on missed free throw attempts, preventing UAlbany from mounting a late comeback attempt. Rizzuto’s three-point attempt at the buzzer to force overtime missed the mark, and St. Joe’s held on to win 67-64.
  • St. Joe’s scored 21 points off of 17 UAlbany turnovers, and outscored the Great Danes 38-26 in the paint. Jarvis Doles led UAlbany with 13 points, and Taylor scored 11 to go with nine rebounds.  Kelly scored 11 as well, and led UAlbany with four assists.

UAlbany will host America East newcomer NJIT on January 16 and 17 at SEFCU Arena.