Singletary's Career-High 22 Points Sends Men's Basketball to 15th-Straight Home Win Against UMass Lowell
BOX SCORE
ALBANY, N.Y. – Proving the ninth time is the charm, University at Albany men's basketball guard Evan Singletary netted 22 points in a 75-63 Great Danes (16-6, 5-2 AE) victory over UMass Lowell (7-14, 3-5 AE) on Wednesday night. The senior had reached his previous career high of 21 points on eight occasions dating back to last season. UAlbany is now 10-0 at home in 2015-16 with a 15-game overall winning streak at SEFCU Arena.
“I'm happy that we won, but I'm disappointed with our second half,” said head coach Will Brown. “In the first half we did a nice job of sharing the ball; we got to the line and took high-percentage shots. Coming out of halftime we thought the game was over. UMass Lowell played hard, and they're very capable. We haven't lost at home, so we put this in our back pocket going into Saturday.”
Singletary provided crucial firepower from the opening tip, tallying three points and two assists in the first six possessions. Matching Singletary in the frontcourt early was Greig Stire. The pair combined to record UAlbany's first eight points to take an 8-6 lead.
After Brown's squad went nearly five minutes without a field goal, a Singletary three at the 11:12 mark matched the Purple & Gold's largest advantage 20-13. Scoring six of the next 10 points for the Danes, Greig Stire opened up the game's first double-digit lead, 30-19 with just under seven minutes to play in the first.
The River Hawks put UAlbany in the bonus with 12 minutes to go in the first half, leading to easy freebies late in the period. Despite a flurry of three-point attempts, the Danes made 12 free throws to UMass Lowell's four in the opening stanza. David Nichols and Dallas Ennema knocked down from the charity stripe late to go up 39-26.
Joe Cremo hit a three-pointer with 1:25 on the clock, followed by a traditional three-point play from Singletary. UAlbany entered the break with its largest lead of the game at 16 points, 47-31.
Singletary and Stire combined for 25 of the Purple & Gold's 47 first-half points. Cremo added nine. Brown & co., committed just three turnovers with a 16-for-30 (.533) shooting clip.
After being held scoreless in the first half, UMass Lowell's leading scorer Jahad Thomas made some noise early in the second. After the River Hawks whittled the lead to 11, Brown subbed out the starters in favor of the first five off the bench.
The line-up of Jamir Andrews, Nichols, Ennema, Cremo and Richard Peters reclaimed the 16-point advantage with 13 minutes to go. Andrews nailed a three, and grabbed a steal at the other end of the floor. Looking up-court, Andrews found Cremo who dished off to Nichols for an easy lay-in.
After some time on the pine, the starters returned to keep up the double-digit lead with 10 minutes remaining; but the River Hawks roared back with a 10-3 run. UAlbany went 1-for-4 (.250) from the field with three turnovers as UMass Lowell crept within six, 63-57.
After going 2-for-6 (.333) with five turnovers in seven minutes, the Danes stepped up to hit free throws down the stretch and take the 75-63 victory.
The Great Danes captured a season-high 12 steals in their 15th consecutive home win, but grabbed a season-low 27 rebounds.
Evan Singletary (22) and Greig Stire (13) recorded new career highs in points against the River Hawks. Singletary added five assists and five rebounds.
Next up, UAlbany men's basketball visits Hartford (7-15, 2-5 AE) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
