Danes try to preserve playoff hopes
ALBANY — The University at Albany men’s basketball team was glued to the TV on Wednesday night.
The Great Danes anxiously watched NJIT build a 17-point lead over Bryant with 16 minutes remaining. But the Bulldogs came back, holding on for a 79-78 win that kept Ualbany’s playoff hopes alive.
“They had me jumping out of my seat a little bit. I’m not a Bryant fan at all, I’m not any other fan than Ualbany, but I’m glad Bryant got the win,” forward Gerald Drumgoole Jr. said.
Ualbany (7-22, 2-12 league) is chasing the Highlanders (7-20, 4-10) for the eighth and final seed in the America East Tournament. The two teams go head to head Saturday night at Hudson Valley Community College; tip off is at 7 p.m.
If Ualbany loses Saturday, it will miss the playoffs for the first time as a Division I program, though every team made the America East
postseason prior to the 2014-15 season. The last time the Great Danes finished as low as ninth was in the 2009-10 season, but they were the eighth seed that year because Binghamton was ineligible.
If the Great Danes beat NJIT, they still need to win at Vermont in the regularseason finale Tuesday night. The Catamounts have already clinched the regularseason
title, their seventh straight. The Great Danes would also need NJIT to lose its last game vs. New Hampshire.
Saturday’s game is meaningful for more than the playoff implications — it’s also Senior Night.
Drumgoole, senior guard/ forward Trey Hutcheson and fifth-year guards Da’kquan Davis and Sarju Patel will all be honored.
Drumgoole, a senior, has two years of eligibility left, but said he hasn’t decided about returning next season.
Hutcheson, affectionately known as “the old man,” has been at Ualbany longer than anyone else on the team or coaching staff. He has a year of eligibility remaining due to COVID -19 but decided to graduate.
“I just think I’ve had a good four years. I’ve loved every minute of it, but just kind of feels like it’s time for me to move on and start the next chapter of my life,” Hutcheson said. “I hope that the pride in the program stays around, and the pride in the rivalries, like the Vermont rivalry, the Siena rivalry . ... There’s a really rich tradition in this program and it deserves to be remembered.”
Davis, who transferred from Division III Arcardia, and Patel, a Cornell transfer, have no eligibility left.
The Highlanders have been without leading scorer Miles Coleman, who had 17 points against Ualbany earlier in the season, since Jan. 19. In his absence, graduate guard Adam Hess has stepped up, scoring double digits in seven of the nine games he played without Coleman on the court.