ALBANY — It wasn't going to happen again. Mike Black, the senior for the University at Albany, was not going to let anyone down Sunday night in what might have been his final game at SEFCU Arena. Not on his watch.

The 6-foot point guard extended the Great Danes' season for at least another six days when his layup with two seconds on the clock gave UAlbany a 61-59 upset win over Stony Brook in the semifinals of the America East Conference Tournament.

"This was just a tremendous, gutty win," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "We have tough kids."

UAlbany (23-10), the fourth seed, will now get free basketball Saturday when the Danes play second-seeded Vermont (21-10) at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington. The winner of the 11:30 a.m. game gets a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

This will be the third time the Danes have appeared in the league title game. UAlbany won the first two, both against Vermont, and the latest one (2007) came in Burlington.

A trip to the NCAAs is something that Black has coveted ever since he got on the Western Avenue campus by way of Chicago four years ago.

With one chance left, Black was going to make sure he was the one to roll the dice with the Danes' fate hanging in the balance.

With the score tied at 59, Black drove the length of the floor and scored the layup that sent the 3,421 at SEFCU into a frenzy. Black and his teammates were swallowed up in a sea of purple and gold while Stony Brook, which had beaten the Danes seven straight times and 11 of the last 13, watched in a daze, its postseason destination now the NIT.

"Beating a team three times in a season is tough to do," Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said. "And, hey, they are good. To win 23 games at this level is hard to do."

"This just feels great," said Black, who scored a team-high 16 points and played a game-high 34 minutes. "I don't care how many games in a row we lost to them. We beat them when it counted."

The Danes never surrendered the lead in the second half, but there were some anxious moments. After Dave Coley tied the game at 59-59 with two free throws with 12 seconds left, it was go-time for Black.

Brown didn't call a timeout and Black got the inbounds pass and took off. He drove hard to the basket, and rode his defender, Stony Brook freshman Carson Puriefoy, off a pick set by Luke Devlin.

Coley was guarding UAlbany guard Jacob Iati in the corner, but didn't leave him because of Iati's 3-point range. With a step on Puriefoy, Black went to the basket almost uncovered.

"It was the easiest basket I scored all night," Black said. "I trust coach to put the ball in my hands. He had a lot of trust in me and I'm thankful for that."

And it was probably the only way this team should have won. Black has had an up and down season, having some horrendous shooting nights in the league (scoreless in the first Stony Brook game here on Jan. 29, 1-13 at Hartford Jan. 19). Vindication was his on this night.

"Expecting him to take the last shot? Expect is problaby the wrong word," said UAlbany sophomore forward Sam Rowley. "I trusted him to make the right play. He has made them before."

Iati, who would have gotten the ball if he was open and had the chance to be the hero, was hoping it would not come to him. Not that he didn't think he would make the shot, but he may have been thinking about Black, his friend.

"I wanted him to take the shot, and I think he wanted to take it, too," said Iati, who finished with 14 points.

twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin