After the disappointed BU Zoo evacuated the Events Center, the Albany Great Danes assured themselves of one more home game.

Buoyed by forward Brent Wilson’s 16 points, the Danes racked up their 20th win of the season by handily defeating the pesky New Hampshire Wildcats 67-54. Despite a sub par night from America East Player of the Year Jamar Wilson, Albany’s depth and sheer talent proved too much for a UNH team which previously had its number.

“[The bench players] were huge,” said sophomore Brent Wilson. “It took everybody to get this done.”

Albany changed its defensive philosophy drastically from the first two meetings, both UNH overtime victories. The Great Danes full-court press and emphasis on defending the three-point line forced New Hampshire into a 36 percent shooting effort, which did not suffice for the Wildcats this time.

“This time we did a better job of clamping down,” said senior forward Levi Levine.

Albany head coach Will Brown agreed with his team’s emotional leader.

“We tried to be a foot-fake team,” Brown said. “At a higher level of competition I compare UNH to West Virginia [in offensive strategy]. We needed to stay at home, and our kids did a good job at buckling down.”

On Saturday night, Albany dispatched UMBC with a dazzling offensive effort. Sunday, the Danes shot 49 percent to make New Hampshire’s chase a futile endeavor. Two-men deep at every position in offensive talent, Albany made New Hampshire defend all five men on the court and created mismatches galore against the Wildcats’ defense.

“We got beat by a much better basketball team today,” said UNH head coach Bill Herrion. “Albany has great pieces. They just have a lot of weapons.”

For Herrion, the focus now becomes building his program into a powerhouse similar to his Drexel team, with Malik Rose, that won three straight America East titles and an NCAA tournament game. New Hampshire improved greatly, posting 12 wins, and Herrion is firmly convinced that the direction of the Wildcat program is bullish.

“Where we’ve come from at the start of the year to get one game from the championship says a lot about our guys,” Herrion said.

Will Brown’s life revolves around next Saturday, the biggest day of his coaching career. Despite the upcoming championship game in Albany, Brown felt relieved after his team pulled through.

“If it happened again, I might need to put in my application at Kmart,” Brown joked to reporters, about what the consequences of a third loss to New Hampshire would be.

Albany’s win sets up a conference title tilt with three-time defending champion Vermont. The Catamounts overcame a 15-point deficit in front of a wild Events Center crowd to edge out the Bearcats for the right to play for a trip to the dance. The two teams split their season series, with both teams winning at home. The Danes feel that their potentially loud crowd can make the difference and carry them to the NCAA tournament.

“This is what we’ve worked for,” Levine said. “Getting back to the RACC is what we’ve played for all season.”