Singletary's Second-Half Burst Fuels Men's Basketball Past Marist 75-53

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Senior point guard Evan Singletary's 15 second-half points sparked University at Albany men's basketball (7-3) to a 75-53 road victory at Marist (2-5) on Wednesday night. The Great Danes have won five straight games entering Saturday night's battle for the Albany Cup.

“I thought this was a good, solid overall effort especially in the second half,” said head coach Will Brown. “Our overall energy and defense was very good, and we were relentless attacking the basket. Marist does a good job of spreading you out and making you guard, but we did a great job on the glass.”

After a rough start with two turnovers, UAlbany crafted its way through the Marist zone to score on consecutive possessions. Marist also struggled to rebound in its zone, as the Danes posted three offensive boards in the first four minutes, taking a 7-2 lead.

The Red Foxes shot just 1-for-6 (.167) from the field and 0-for-3 from three early on, thanks in part to a 9-1 rebounding margin in the Purple & Gold's favor. Brown & co., held the Red Foxes without a field goal for nearly five minutes.

But a Khallid Hart three let the Red Foxes out offensively, and Marist bounced back to go 5-for-7 from the field over the next seven minutes. A 10-0 run gave Marist its largest lead at the 9:31 mark, 13-10.

In the midst of Marist's run, UAlbany went without a field goal mid-way through the period. Joe Cremo ended the drought after retrieving his own rebound down the lane. On the ensuing possession, Cremo found Ray Sanders in transition to get the Danes back on track.

Despite being in the bonus early in the half, Cremo became the first Dane to go 2-for-2 from the line with five minutes left to play. The freshman locked the game at 20.

Sanders and Cremo dominated the tail end of the first half, scoring 18 of the Purple & Gold's final 20 points. Sanders finished the opening 20 minutes with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, while Cremo added nine. Stire tallied 10 rebounds in the first 12 minutes of the game.

UAlbany went 12-for-28 (.429) from the field in the first half, doubling up on Marist in rebounds, 24-12 for a 32-28 advantage.

Marist continued to struggle to open the second half, as its only true size on the floor Eric Truog picked up his third foul just 30 seconds in.

After scoring just two points in the first half, the Purple & Gold's leading scorer Evan Singletary exploded for 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 3-for-4 from three in 10 minutes to kick off the second period. The senior point guard recorded the first four points of the half, and captured UAlbany's largest lead of the game to that point, 43-34 leading into the under-16 media timeout.

By the under-12 media in the second half, the Danes were 6-for-10 (.600) from the field to Marist's 3-for-11 (.273) in a 13-0 run. The Red Foxes went scoreless for five minutes before hitting two free throws with 13:48 to play.

A Connor McClenaghan three saw Marist sneak within 10 points, but Singletary hit back-to-back threes for a 16-point edge, 55-39 with 11:55 on the clock. UAlbany out-scored Marist 28-8 over eight minutes to increase its lead to 21 points with 8:47 to go.

Overpowering Marist offensively and defensively, UAlbany was 13-for-18 (.722) from the field in the first 12 minutes of the second half, while the Red Foxes shot 4-for-18 (.222). The Danes concluded the game with a season-high 47 rebounds, including 16 on the offensive glass.

Mike Rowley and Greig Stire each posted career highs in rebounds, with 11 and 14 respectively. Stire's total was two shy of setting a new UAlbany program single-game record.

In the scoring column, Ray Sanders led with 18 on 8-for-11 shooting and 15 first-half points. Evan Singletary (17) and Joe Cremo (16) joined Sanders in double figures. The trio combined to go 68.9% (20-29) from the field.

For the third consecutive game, UAlbany downed its opponent for the first time in Division I program history.

Next up, UAlbany men's basketball defends the Albany Cup title against Siena (6-4) at the Times Union Center on Saturday at 7:30pm. The game will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, including ESPN3 and WatchESPN coverage outside of New York State.