Victory energizes Danes
TROY — The fat lady may have been warming up before the University at Albany men’s basketball team’s game against UMBC on Wednesday night, but she hasn’t sung just yet.
The Great Danes (7-21, 2-11 America East) pulled out an 81-74 win at Hudson Valley Community College, ending a nine-game losing streak and keeping their playoff hopes alive.
“Just to be able to get a win for ourselves, just to prove to ourselves that we can still do it, it means a lot. It just shows you can’t give up, and the job isn’t finished. We still have a lot of the season to go,” senior forward Gerald Drumgoole Jr. said.
At first, the game looked like it would follow the pattern of Ualbany’s other losses. UMBC (17-11, 7-6) got out to a 7-0 start, with the Great Danes going 0-for-4 from the field. But senior guard/forward Trey Hutcheson buried a 3-pointer, his first in conference play, and gave Ualbany a one-point lead three minutes later.
“We get frustrated really easy,” coach Dwayne Killings said. “We got down seven-nothing, early, and in the past I thought we’d kind of cave a little bit. Today we didn’t do it. I thought we showed some resilience and we stayed together.”
Hutcheson finished with a season-high 14 points, shooting 4-for-7 from 3, along with five rebounds.
“I definitely feel like I’ve been due. It’s been frustrating at times, but coaches and teammates have just had my back through the whole year, just keep telling me they have confidence in me. I keep believing in my shot, and I knew that there was going to be a night where I got it going and I’m hopeful that I can keep it going for the rest of the season,” Hutcheson said.
On defense, Hutcheson spent much of the game going against former teammate Jarvis Doles, who transferred to UMBC at the end of last season. Doles had four points, six rebounds and three assists.
“It’s always good to see him,” Hutcheson said, but “I’m glad that he had to leave here with an L. I’m glad we didn’t let him walk out with a win.”
The Retrievers cut a seven-point Ualbany lead to two at the end of the first half and closed within one point early in the second, but fifthyear guard Sarju Patel drove for a layup, then found Drumgoole for a 3 to put Ualbany up 46-40.
Patel had 13 points, three assists and two steals. Drumgoole and freshman forward Jonathan Beagle led Ualbany with 16 points each, and Beagle also grabbed a seasonhigh 15 rebounds.
For only the second time this season, Beagle was not in the starting lineup, coming in for junior forward Japannah Kellogg after 90 seconds.
“Nothing bad, just a moment that he’s got to learn from. (Beagle) responded great. I think he understands and I don’t think that we’ll see him out of the lineup ever again in his career,” Killings said of the decision.
Ualbany’s defense improved from the last outing against UMBC, when the Retrievers put up 92 points. UMBC shot 35.6 percent from the field and 24 percent from 3.
“We were able to switch one through five, and having trust in our big men to really step up and guard guards that in a sense you could say is faster than them, is very big-time, and that just helped us win the game,” Drumgoole said.
But the Retrievers were able to get to the free-throw line over and over to stay in the game, scoring 20 of their 39 points in the second half at the foul line.
Next up for the Great Danes is a trip to Maine, currently tied with NJIT for seventh. Ualbany needs to catch one of the two, who both have four wins, in order to make the playoffs. “Unfortunately for our team, we don’t have that much time to enjoy winning,” Drumgoole said. “It’s a lot that we have to do still upcoming, and I feel like we have to focus more on ourselves and what’s in front of us.”