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DAYTON, Ohio -- D.J. Evans is charitably listed at 5-foot-9. His coach and teammates tease him that he looks a foot shorter. Yet he stood awfully tall for Albany on Tuesday night. Evans scored 22 points, including two clinching free throws with 12.6 seconds left, to lead the Great Danes to their first NCAA tournament victory, 71-64 over Mount St. Marys in the First Four. Evans, an often overlooked component in Albanys lineup, belied his height with nine rebounds to go with three assists. "Hes about 4-foot-8, so hes really impressive," laughed his running mate at guard, Peter Hooley, who had 20 points. "I dont think theres another 4-8 guard who could go in there and get that many boards. He did what he needed to do to get this win." It was a signature victory for the America East Conference tournament champs, who had come up empty in three previous trips to the big dance. "It means a lot," said an emotional coach Will Brown. "Theres no better feeling. Like I told our kids, were going to be in the history books at the University of Albany forever." The Great Danes (19-14) advance to meet overall No. 1 seed and top-ranked Florida on Thursday in Orlando. But that was a concern for another day. It was a wild game of incredible turnarounds, with the Great Danes bolting to leads of 13-0 and 21-2, only to have The Mount (16-17) bounce back with a 21-2 run of its own to pull even. Hooley, one of three Australians on the Albany roster, hit two free throws with 2:43 remaining to stretch the lead to 65-62. After Julian Norfleet countered with a bucket, Hooley again pounded his way to the basket and lofted a shot over a defender for a 67-64 lead at the 2-minute mark. It stayed that way with the teams missing big shots. Rashad Whack and Norfleet each missed potential tying 3s -- Whacks rolled almost inside the rim and then bounded away. "When it hit the rim, I thought it was going to go in," Whack said softly. Evans was fouled with 12.6 seconds left and hit both shots to increase the lead to five points -- and out of reach of another long-range shot. Evans was most proud of his rebounding. "They shot a lot of 3s and there were a lot of long rebounds," he said with a grin. "I was just at the right place at the right time." After playing two years of junior-college ball and sitting behind a senior starter a year ago, Brown told Evans his day would eventually come. "Hes the happiest kid in the world right now," Brown said. Norfleet then missed another 3 and Albany finally could call itself an NCAA winner. Will Miller, a freshman who came off the bench, led The Mount with 21 points, all on 3s. But he didnt get off a shot in the last 3:32 after making back-to-back 3s to draw the Mountaineers within a point. Whack added 16 points and Sam Prescott 14 for The Mount, which electrified the crowd at the University of Dayton with 3-point fireworks. The Mountaineers hit 12 of 37 shots behind the arc to time and again come back from deficits. The glut of 3-pointers was nothing new for the Mountaineers. They came in with an offence heavily dependent on shots behind the arc. They averaged 9 of 25 on 3-pointers coming in. Albany had made some racket in the NCAAs before, but had never come out on top. In 2006, the Great Danes led by double figures in the second half but lost to Connecticut, 72-59. A year later, they held their own before falling Virginia, 84-57. A year ago, as a 15 seed, they battled Duke throughout before coming up short, 73-61. Mount St. Marys was also making its fourth NCAA appearance, although it had won once before -- a victory over Coppin State in 2008 in the old format of an opening-round leading into the big tournament. Albany led 35-31 at the break, but that didnt tell the story of one bizarre half. The Mount couldnt do much right for the first 8-plus minutes. The Great Danes raced to a 13-0 lead. The Mountaineers missed misfired on their first 11 shots from the field, including six behind the arc. "A lot of teams would have folded," said Mount coach Jamion Christian. "Our guys didnt do that. They took the punch and they bounced back." Things quickly turned around, with Mount going on an 18-0 run. Like a couple of sparring partners, the teams kept trading flurries in the second half. Down 45-41, Albany went on a 10-1 run. Trailing 60-53, the Mountaineers scored nine of the next 12 capped by Millers two 3s to cut the deficit to a point. That set the stage for Evans to play like a giant. Lebron Shoes Sales . Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced Thursday in a statement that he is resigning in order to "expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Lebron Shoes Outlet Canada .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. http://www.lebronshoesoutletcanada.com/. The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Cheap Lebron Shoes Canada . Blown save in the ninth inning? No problem. Lebron Shoes Canada Online . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.CHICAGO -- The Washington Wizards are winning more on the road than they are at home. They cant quite pinpoint why. John Wall and Nene had 19 points apiece, Trevor Ariza scored 16 and the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 102-88 on Monday night. "We just play more freely," Marcin Gortat said. "We can focus in the hotel. In the locker room, were just sitting in one little room and trying to get ready for the game. I dont know, at home theres just too many rooms, too many places where you can go. Too many places where you can dance and sing." The Wizards led by 13 early in the fourth and hung on down the stretch after a 12-point lead was cut to five, snapping the Bulls five-game win streak. Nene scored eight points in the final period after getting the start, and Bradley Beal came on strong down the stretch to finish with 13. He hit a jumper and 3-pointer during a nine-point run that bumped Washingtons lead to 96-82 with about 3 minutes left. Wall hit two jumpers during that spurt and had seven assists in the game. Ariza hit a trio of 3-pointers and the Wizards shot 52 per cent to come away with the win after dropping five of seven. Theyre 10-10 on the road and 7-9 at home, where theyll play Miami on Wednesday. "Its kind of hurting us that we dont play as a team at home," Wall said. "We dont come out with a sense of urgency and we get down early." But in this game it was exactly the opposite. The Wizards never trailed. They led by as many as 15 in the second quarter and withstood several pushes by the Bulls in the second half. "Everybody probably thought they were tanking and they were going to try to redo their team," Wall said. "Theyre still one of the best defensive teams in the league." Carlos Boozer scored 19 for Chicago and Joakim Noah grabbed 16 rebounds. But with a chance to reach .500 for the first time since November, the Bulls committed 18 turnovers. They also lost for the first time since traading Luol Deng to Cleveland last week, after winning three without him.dddddddddddd "Games like this humble you," Taj Gibson said. "Right when youre feeling too good about yourself, youre feeling invincible, a team comes in there and smacks you, wakes you up to reality." Washington had no trouble getting inside in the early going and shot 59 per cent while building a 56-43 halftime lead. The Bulls jumped right back into it to start the third quarter, tightening their defence while scoring the first eight points. Boozer capped it with a finger roll after Beal missed an easy layup, making it a five-point game. The Bulls were within four when Trevor Booker scored and Ariza and Martell Webster hit consecutive 3-pointers to push Washingtons lead back to double digits at 73-61 with 2:49 left in the third. For Chicago, it was a letdown after a promising stretch. Coach Tom Thibodeau didnt "think we had an edge tonight." That was clear right from the start, with the Wizards opening the game on an 8-0 run that Gortat punctuated with a hard, running dunk on Boozer. They were up 36-21 early in the second after back-to-back jumpers by Beal, and they answered every time the Bulls threatened in the second half. "We kept saying well work our way out of it," Thibodeau said. "Well, you cant keep saying, youve got to do it. Ive got to make sure that were ready." NOTES: Chicago star Derrick Rose is off crutches and could start travelling with the team in the coming weeks. The 2011 NBA MVP tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. He sat out last season while recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. ... Chicagos Nazr Mohammed sprained his left middle finger in the first half, but Thibodeau didnt think it was broken. ... The Bulls have won nine of their past 11 home games against Washington. ' ' '