Hooley's 25 lead Albany over Hartford 81-56

Jan 4, 2014, 09:58 pm

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. -- Peter Hooley had a career-high 25 points on Saturday night to guide Albany past Hartford 81-56 in the America East Conference opener for both teams.

DJ Evans added 20 points for Albany (7-7), including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. Hooley was 6 of 9 from long distance and the Great Danes as a team were 16 of 23 (69.6 percent). Albany also shot 9 of 18 from inside the arc to finish with 58.1 percent shooting overall.

Albany led 52-39 in the second half when it made 5 of 6 3-pointers over a 4-minute stretch to extend its lead to 67-43 with 8:32 left.

Hartford fell behind 29-12, but finished the first half on a 7-point run to close within 39-30. The Hawks (5-10) shot 41.2 percent with only five turnovers but gave up a 37-14 rebounding edge to Albany.

Mark Nwakamma led the Hawks with 13 points.