DAYTON, Ohio -- D. Nike Air Max Tailwind 7 Canada .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. Air Max 720 Canada . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Nike Air Max Clearance Canada . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-270-canada-sale.html . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.NEW YORK -- Lucas Duda made the Mets look awfully smart, for one night at least. Duda hit a pair of two-run homers only hours after the team gave him the starting job at first base, and New York beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Friday behind Jenrry Mejia for its first victory of the season. "Im just glad to play and contribute any way I can," said the soft-spoken Duda. "Its just one day." Replacement closer Jose Valverde struck out Jay Bruce with two on to end it, and the Mets avoided their first 0-4 start since opening with five consecutive losses in 2005. The 24-year-old Mejia (1-0), who beat out Daisuke Matsuzaka for the final spot in the rotation, struck out a career-high eight in six innings. Flashing a sharp breaking ball, he allowed one run and four hits in a steady rain and mist. "It was a good game for us tonight. We needed it bad," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Were a better team than weve played." Bruce homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, who had won six straight at Citi Field. Mike Leake (0-1) gave up five hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings. "It was the Lucas Duda-Jay Bruce show, and Duda won," Leake said. Mets left fielder Eric Young Jr. robbed Brandon Phillips of a home run, and backup catcher Anthony Recker threw out speedy pinch-runner Billy Hamilton trying to steal second for a big out in the eighth. New Yorks maligned bullpen, which compiled a 10.61 ERA during Washingtons three-game sweep to start the season, held on this time behind Valverde and fellow veteran Kyle Farnsworth, who got four outs. The excitable Valverde worked the ninth for his first save with the Mets. He took over as closer when Bobby Parnell went on the disabled list with a partially torn ligament in his right elbow after blowing a save on opening day. "I remember Valverde back in 2009 when he was throwing 99 mph," Bruce said. "He came right at me tonight. I just missed the one pitch and then he finished me off with the splitter. Pretty typical Valverde." Mejia struck out five of his first eight batters and overcame five walks, which matched aa career high. Nike Air Max Uptempo Canada. His right ankle was wrapped after the game -- Phillips third-inning grounder hit him just above the outside part of his foot -- but he said he was fine. Mejia pounded his glove and pointed to left field when Young robbed Phillips of a first-inning homer. "I was just pumped up," Young said. "It ended up being the difference in the game because it was one run, so it was huge." Bruce put Cincinnati ahead with an RBI single in the third. Curtis Granderson beat the shift in the fourth when he grounded a leadoff double inside third base. Duda drove the next pitch into the Mets bullpen in right-centre for a 2-1 lead. "Sometimes its just about confidence," said Collins, who chose Duda at first over incumbent Ike Davis. "And maybe once in a while, when you feel good about yourself, you can start to do what everybody expects you to do." David Wright opened the sixth with an infield single and, after Bruce robbed Granderson of extra bases with running catch in deep right-centre, Duda ripped a line drive over the fence in right for his fifth career multihomer game. Duda is 6 for 8 against Leake with three extra-base hits. "Hes a guy that sees me well. It didnt help that the two pitches he hit werent quality pitches," Leake said. Bruce cut it to 4-3 in the seventh with a two-run drive off reliever John Lannan. NOTES: Cincinnati rested Hamilton (0 for 12) and SS Zack Cozart (0 for 11). "For no other reason than trying to make sure that our other guys stay sharp," manager Bryan Price said. CF Roger Bernadina drew three walks in his first start for Cincinnati, and Ramon Santiago became the 24th Reds shortstop to play next to Phillips. ... It was the first stolen base attempt of the season for Hamilton, who set a professional baseball record in 2012 with 155 steals combined at Class A Bakersfield and Double-A Pensacola. The only other catcher to throw him out in 15 major league tries was Juan Centeno of the Mets on Sept. 25 last year. ... Mejia threw a career-high 101 pitches. ... Mets RHP Dillon Gee starts Saturday against RHP Johnny Cueto. ' ' '