Albany 71, Mount St. Mary’s 64: DJ Evans matched a career high with 22 points and had nine rebounds while Peter Hooley scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half as the Great Danes held off the Mountaineers in a battle of No. 16 seeds in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Dayton, Ohio.

Gary Johnson added 13 points and seven rebounds for Albany (19-14), which will take its season-high four-game winning streak to Orlando, Fla., on Thursday and face No. 1 overall seed Florida in a second-round game. Sam Rowley grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds as the Great Danes notched their first win in the NCAA tournament despite losing the turnover battle 14-4.

Freshman Will Miller set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 21 points for Mount St. Mary’s (16-17), which saw its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-4 all-time in the Big Dance. Rashad Whack poured in 16 points and Sam Prescott posted 14 for the Mountaineers.

Albany began a wild first half with the first 13 points and opened the game on a 21-2 run before Mount St. Mary’s used five 3-pointers during its own 21-2 burst to knot the game at 23. The Great Danes recovered to score 10 of the next 15 points spanning both halves as they built a 37-31 edge following a jumper from John Puk on their first possession after intermission.

The Mountaineers responded with 14 of the next 18 points to take their biggest lead at 45-41, but nine points from Hooley helped Albany jump ahead by seven before back-to-back 3-pointers by Miller trimmed the deficit to 63-62 with 3½ minutes left. Hooley scored four straight Albany points and Evans drained a pair of free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining to seal it after Whack and Julian Norfleet missed potential game-tying 3-point attempts over the final 39 seconds.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Albany shot 57.4 percent from the field and outrebounded Mount St. Mary’s 42-23. … The Mountaineers, who fell to 0-7 in games in which they failed to score at least 66 points, went 12-of-37 from beyond the arc. … Miller accounted for the only points scored by a reserve by either team.