Danes can’t stay with Drexel
PHILADELPHIA— Call this a “lost weekend” for University at Albany sports.
After seeing the gridiron Great Danes get routed Friday night by top-ranked South Dakota State in the FCS semifinals, it was left to Dwayne Killings’ hoops group to ease their fans’ pain Saturday.
While the hardcourt Danes didn’t lose by 59 points, they only managed to keep the game competitive until early in the second half. That’s when host Drexel broke it open, then never looked back on its way to a 71-52 win in the first game between the schools.
While Killings and his players bemoaned his team’s lackluster 21for-67, 31.9 percent shooting and especially the way they were manhandled on the boards 54-26 by the taller Dragons, what really bugged him was something else. It’s what folks here certainly remember going back to Allen Iverson’s 76ers days.
We’re talking about practice! “I’m disappointed a little bit because we didn’t have great days of practice leading up here,” said Killings, who coached here on two separate occasions at Temple under Fran Dunphy totaling eight years. “I don’t think we totally understand how tough the game is at times.
“The rebounding margin is not OK. The way they just stayed on the glass, we couldn’t respond the way we needed to. But I don’t think we answered the bell today. Our effort wasn’t where it needs to be.”
That gave his players plenty to think about on the 4⁄-hour bus ride home.
“Our practices definitely could’ve been better coming into a game like this,” said junior forward Aaron Reddish, who scored just six points in a disappointing homecoming, having grown up some 25 miles away. “You have to be prepared, especially for the things they do. I thought we could’ve had a little more focus.”
Still, the Danes (6-5) were down just 33-25 at halftime, despite shooting just 31.3 percent. But when the Dragons (6-5), who knocked off perennial power Villanova two weeks ago, opened the second half on a 14-3 run to seize a commanding 47-28 advantage, UAlbany knew it was in trouble.
“When you come out at halftime it’s really important to win that first media timeout,” said guard Tyler Bertram, who came off the bench to score nine points, hitting three of the just four 3pointers Albany made on a day they shot 4-for-22 from long distance. “The first four minutes they kind of punched us in the mouth and we didn’t recover.
“Basketball is a game of runs and when you get punched like that it’s kind of tough to get back in the game. But I don’t think we played to the pace we wanted to. They did a really good job slowing
us down and making us play at their pace. That hurt us a lot.”
So did the Dragons’ 6-foot-10 enforcer, Amari Williams, who led a balanced attack with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, though he altered several more. With UAlbany unable to get to the rim or knock down shots with any regularity, the Great Danes’ fate was pretty much sealed.
The good news is they won’t have much time to lick their wounds, with Sacred Heart coming to town Tuesday. By then Killings hopes the mentality — the word he had written on the door of the locker room — is more to his liking than what he saw here.
And at practice.