New Hampshire holds off Albany 64-61

Jan 6, 2018, 03:19 pm

DURHAM, New Hampshire -- Tanner Leissner scored 19 points, Josh Hopkins added 13 off the bench, and New Hampshire's reserves helped spark the Wildcats to a 64-61 win over Albany on Saturday in their America East Conference home opener.

Iba Camara grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-11, 1-1), whose bench outscored Albany's 31-6. New Hampshire, ranked second in the conference behind Albany in rebounding, outrebounded the Great Danes 41-34 and made 10 3-pointers.

Leissner's layup capped a 15-3 run for a 48-37 New Hampshire lead, Keon Burns hit back-to-back 3s, and the Wildcats led by 13 with 9:21 left. Travis Charles' jumper capped a 7-0 run and the Great Danes closed to 56-50, then to 62-61 on Joe Cremo's 3 with a minute left. Camara's layup put the Wildcats up by three and he got a steal with four seconds left to seal it.

Cremo scored 20 points with four 3-pointers for Albany (12-4, 0-2). Greig Stire added 13 points with nine rebounds and Charles had 12 points.