ALBANY, N.Y. – Ahead of a trip to USF (0-4) on Tuesday, University at Albany men's basketball (2-2) defeated Division III SUNY school Oneonta (1-1) 92-49 on Saturday night. The Great Danes boasted 52 points in the paint and 47 off the bench.

“I liked our energy in the second half,” said head coach Will Brown. “We did a nice job of being unselfish and playing with more enthusiasm on both ends of the ball.  A lot of guys got an opportunity to play for us, which was important. We have a long stretch ahead of us, so we've got to continue to work as we get into a tough part of our non-conference schedule.”

The Purple & Gold opened the game on a 10-5 run thanks to six-straight points from Mike Rowley. Of UAlbany's first 14 points, 12 came courtesy of the starting front court combo of Rowley and Greig Stire.

By the under-12 media timeout in the first half, five different Great Danes had scored, shooting 8-for-11 (.727) from the field for an 18-9 lead.

The Red Dragons began to chip away at UAlbany's margin, as the Danes went without a field goal for two and a half minutes. Travis Charles responded with his first points of the contest, but Oneonta came within five at the under-eight media timeout in the first half, 23-18.

Dallas Ennema was fouled on a three-point attempt mid-way through the first half, and after hitting all three free throws extended the lead to 10 for the second time, 30-20.

UAlbany returned to the game plan to close the opening 20 minutes, pounding the ball inside. A 6-for-7 spurt from the field put the Danes up 18, 50-32 at the break.

At the half, the Purple & Gold had poured on 30 points in the paint, as well as 14 points off the bench.

Rowley exited the game shortly after extending UAlbany's lead into the 20's less than two minutes into the second half. The junior forward finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, including five offensive boards.

With the entire starting line-up out of the game at the 13:12 mark, Richard Peters, Jamir Andrews and Ennema stepped up to go 3-for-4 from the field in two minutes. The Purple & Gold put 70 points on the board with 11 minutes to go, up 70-37.

Oneonta went scoreless for three minutes mid-way through the second period to take a 39-point deficit. Scotia's Joe Cremo sank a jumper to make the score 76-37 with 8:37 to play.

Freshman David Nichols recorded his first career made field goal at the 6:46 mark on a right-side lay-in. Nichols went for seven points in eight minutes in the second half.

Both teams concluded the game on a field goal drought, as Oneonta went nearly four minutes without a basket.

All 11 Great Danes that saw time scored at least five points. Five recorded at least two steals. UAlbany held Oneonta to 1-for-11 (.097) from three and 7-for-30 (.233) from the field in the second half.

The Purple & Gold put forth a 90-point effort for the first time in a decade. UAlbany went for 90 points in the 2005-06 season opener in the 2k Sports College Hoops Classic on Nov. 9, a 90-73 win over Oakland. 

Next up, UAlbany men's basketball heads to the Sunshine State for a 7:00pm Tuesday tip at USF (0-4) on ESPN3.