Mike Rowley Posts First Career Double-Double as Men's Basketball Picks up 69-57 Win at Vermont
BOX SCORE
BURLINGTON, VT. – Junior forward Mike Rowley went for 18 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday afternoon, propelling University at Albany men's basketball (13-4, 2-0 AE) past Vermont (9-8, 1-1 AE) by a score of 69-57. The Great Danes left Burlington with a victory for the second consecutive season.
“I'm proud of my guys, they showed tremendous poise and composure in a tough place to play,” said head coach Will Brown. “Vermont is a very good team, and I thought we did a nice job defensively. Offensively we wanted to spread the floor and get easy baskets, making sure to limit our turnovers. Defensive rebounding travels well, and we were tough on the glass today.”
After a rough opening few minutes for both teams, UAlbany strung together a 4-for-5 (.800) shooting clip to take a 10-2 lead. Vermont coughed up four quick turnovers, and Ray Sanders forced an offensive foul on Ernie Duncan to garner even more momentum on the other end of the floor.
The Catamounts came around to cut the UAlbany advantage to four points, 10-6 at the 12-minute mark. John Becker's squad struggled at the rim, shooting 3-for-11 (.273) through the first 10 minutes of the game. The Danes defense forced Vermont's starters into turnovers, with the lone bright spot being Cam Ward off the bench for the Catamounts. Ward tallied four of the first six points.
UAlbany responded by extending its lead to double digits. Sanders garnered an and-one opportunity for a 16-6 edge. After Trae Bell-Haynes sank a three at the other end, Dallas Ennema entered the game to hit the Purple & Gold's only trey of the game with eight minutes to go in the first.
Proving defense is the best offense, Richard Peters blocked Vermont's preseason all-conference selection Ethan O'Day on a bunny lay-up to keep the 10-point lead. The Catamounts went without a field goal for nearly three minutes late in the opening period.
The Great Danes stretched their lead to as many as 14 points, 28-14 thanks to a Mike Rowley bucket late in the half. Vermont fought back to cut the advantage to eight, but four points in less than one minute from Joe Cremo helped UAlbany to a 34-22 lead at the break.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Purple & Gold went 14-for-28 (.500) from the field, while Vermont shot 8-for-27 (.296). Eight different Great Danes had scored, led by Singletary with eight points. Brown & co., recorded just three turnovers, and held Vermont's second-leading scorer Ethan O'Day to no points.
UAlbany saw its 14-point edge fluctuate to eight and back to double figures again in the first four minutes; but Kurt Steidl began to warm up for the Catamounts, eventually recording 15 second-half points. The junior drained a three to make the score 44-36 at the 12:46 mark.
Despite no fouls in the first half, Mike Rowley picked up three in less than six minutes to open the second. With its top player of the game on the bench, UAlbany took extra care of the ball mid-way through the period. With 10 minutes to go, the Danes had just six turnovers, while Vermont turned the ball over three times at the hands of Sanders alone. The senior recorded his fourth take-away of the game with the score 48-40.
As Sanders heated up defensively, Brown's squad went on a mini 6-0 run to match its largest lead of the game, 54-40 with seven minutes to play. But shortly after, Rowley picked up his fourth foul and returned to the bench. Vermont re-gained an eight-point margin to play with shortly after.
Peter Hooley put the UAlbany edge back to 10 with 4:24 to go, and the Great Danes stepped to the charity stripe to close the game, going 13-for-15 (.867) in the closing four minutes. Freshman Cremo notched a 7-for-8 clip in his first ever trip to Patrick Gym.
Mike Rowley finished with 18 points and 11 boards to lead UAlbany. The junior recorded a new career high in points, his first career double-double as well as the first double-double for any Great Dane in 2015-16. He averaged 15 points and 9.5 rebounds in two America East victories this week. Ray Sanders tallied five steals to match his career high, while Hooley dished out three assists.
The Purple & Gold never trailed Vermont, shooting 20-for-26 (.769) from the free throw line, and grabbing 13 offensive rebounds. Every Dane that saw game action recorded at lead three points and at least one rebound.
Next up, UAlbany men's basketball hosts New Hampshire (8-6, 1-0 AE) in a 2015 America East Tournament Semifinal rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 7:00 p.m.
