Cremo's 25 Points Highlight Bench Play in Men's Basketball's 65-56 Victory Over Niagara
BOX SCORE
ALBANY, N.Y. – University at Albany men's basketball (9-4) recorded 43 points off the bench including 25 from freshman Joe Cremo to knock off Niagara (3-9) 65-56 on Wednesday night. The Great Danes extend their home winning streak to 11 games entering the New Year.
“I thought we came out flat,” said head coach Will Brown. “The last 12 minutes of the first half our defensive energy was good and we shared the ball really well. With five minutes to go in the game we let them hang around. For us it's nice to go into the break at 9-4, but we have a lot of areas that we can and need to improve. We only have two more opportunities in the non-conference schedule to get better.”
The Purple & Gold faced a slow shooting start in the early going, as Niagara took a 6-0 lead. UAlbany went 2-for-7 (.286) from the field with three turnovers in the first 6:30.
But scoring proved tough to come by for both teams. The Purple Eagles showed zone to force jump shots and tough passes, but Niagara also went dry offensively mid-way through the half. After kicking off the game 4-for-7 (.571) with no turnovers, Niagara went 3-for-12 (.250) over the next seven minutes.
Fresh off the bench, Joe Cremo, Dallas Ennema and Richard Peters combined to score 21 of UAlbany's final 23 points of the half. Ennema hit a foul line jumper at the 12:03 mark to narrow the Niagara margin to just two, 13-11. Cremo handed the Danes their first lead shortly thereafter on a three-pointer.
Niagara managed a brief five-point spurt, but Peters and Cremo responded for a 12-0 Purple & Gold run to secure a six-point lead, 26-20 with 3:12 left in the first half. Brown's squad would extend its lead to as many as 10 before taking a 32-24 edge into the break.
At halftime, Cremo led all scorers with 11 points. Evan Singletary had six assists to his credit, and Peters had already matched his career high with eight points. After starting the game just 2-for-7 (.286) from the field, the Great Danes went 10-for-17 (.588) in 15 minutes to finish the period shooting 50% (12-24). Cremo and Peters shared 19 of UAlbany's 32 first-half points.
As Cremo jump-started UAlbany's offense, Niagara's struggles continued in the second half. The Purple Eagles went 1-for-7 from the field with four turnovers in the first seven minutes, including a six-minute field goal drought.
Proving the first half was no fluke, the bench again came alive mid-way through the period. Cremo followed up his own miss to convert under the basket, and Ennema hit a kick-out three from Singletary to widen the margin to 17, 44-27 with 13 minutes to play. By the under-12 media timeout, bench points were 29-9 in UAlbany's favor.
With Cremo and Peters out of the game with nine minutes to go, Niagara managed to come within single digits, narrowing the lead to 51-43. Four-straight turnovers for the Danes gave the Purple Eagles breathing room.
As time grew scarce, Brown's squad knocked down timely shots and free throws to maintain a comfortable advantage and take a 65-56 win.
Joe Cremo scored 25 points to mark a new career high. The freshman recorded the highest single-game point total for a Dane since the March 8, 2014 America East Quarterfinal against UMBC, when Peter Hooley dropped 30 at SEFCU Arena. Cremo went 9-for-12 (.750) from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range in 27 minutes.
Despite recording no points, Evan Singletary notched a career-best 10 assists. Richard Peters ended up with nine points and three rebounds, while Ennema went for nine and four.
The bench combination of Joe Cremo, Dallas Ennema and Richard Peters went 16-for-21 (.762) from the field for 43 points, while recording just two turnovers.
Next up, UAlbany men's basketball visits St. Francis Brooklyn (4-8) on Tuesday, December 29 at 7:00pm.
