BY JEREMY FUCHS
The University of Albany is going dancing and they can thank Peter Hooley.
Playing in the America East Final against Stony Brook and down two points, Hooley received the ball at the top of the key with 1.6 remaining and drained a game-winning 3 pointer to give Albany the 51-50 victory and spark a court storm.
Hooley’s heroics are fitting for a player who has been through a lot. Hooley missed a month of school to go home to Australia to be with his mother, Sue, who died of cancer in January.
“When you got angels watching you, anything can happen,” he said on air after the shot.
“I don’t know if you can say that we deserved to win after the way we played, but we were never going to give up. This is just special to me, it’s the best moment of my life. After everything I’ve been through, this is for my family and for my mom especially.
“I know my mom was with me, she probably put that ball in the basket better than I did.”
This is also Albany’s coach Will Brown’s third straight NCAA Tournament bid.
