Men's Basketball Locks in No. 2 Seed for America East Playoffs with 86-61 Victory at UMass Lowell
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LOWELL, MASS.- Led by career numbers from sophomore forward Greig Stire, University at Albany men's basketball (23-7, 12-3 AE) rolled past UMass Lowell (11-18, 7-9 AE) 86-61 on Wednesday night to secure the No. 2 seed for the America East Playoffs. The Great Danes will host the No. 7 seed in the America East Quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m.
“We expected a battle from UMass Lowell,” said head coach Will Brown. “Every game for them is like the America East Conference Tournament because they don't get the opportunity to play in it. This was a dangerous game because of the way they play with four shooters on the floor. We needed to tighten up defensively at halftime, and we worked on taking advantage of our size up front to wear them down in the paint.”
Following a rough 1-for-4 start from the field, Stire got UAlbany on track with five straight points after the under-16 media timeout. The sophomore converted on an and-one with five minutes gone, giving the Danes an 11-6 lead.
Peter Hooley joined in on the scoring early on, netting seven straight on two lay-ins and a trey. By the under-12 media, the Purple & Gold had erased its bad shooting start with a 6-for-12 conversion and held the River Hawks scoreless for three minutes.
But the UMass Lowell senior night crowd willed Pat Duquette's squad back. The River Hawks hit a 7-0 run to close the game to a one-point margin, 16-15 mid-way through the period. The Danes found themselves in field goal drought of their own, but Ray Sanders recorded his first points to end the 0-for-7 shooting slump.
Despite rough patches of shooting in the first half, UAlbany kept itself ahead on the offensive glass. In the closing moments of the period, the Danes had tallied eight offensive rebounds to help generate nine second-chance points and 20 points in the paint.
Brown's squad took a 31-27 edge into the locker room. The Great Danes out-rebounded the River Hawks 25-16 in the opening stanza, including eight boards from Stire. The teams went a combined 2-for-18 from three-point range.
UAlbany set a dominant tone to kick off the second half, as Stire nearly immediately notched a new career high in points and his first career double-double. The sophomore helped fuel a 13-3 Purple & Gold run to extend its lead to 14, 44-30 less than three minutes into the second.
With a small River Hawks line-up, Mike Rowley also stepped in to assert himself in the front court. Rowley had seven quick points as the starting forwards combined to score 11 of UAlbany first 18 second-half points.
The Danes took a 10-point lead into the bonus at the 12:31 mark. Joe Cremo stepped to the line to make his 14th consecutive free throw for a 51-41 advantage. Momentum continued to favor UAlbany after Jamir Andrews drained two free throws and a three. Three Great Danes entered double figures in scoring with eight minutes left as the lead swelled to 22, 75-53.
In the 86-61 win, UAlbany shot 52.6% (20-38) from the field in the second half. Brown & co., out-rebounded UMass Lowell 52-27, a new season best in rebounds. Eight Great Danes had at least one assist.
Stire exited the game with five minutes to go, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The sophomore matched the all-time single game record for boards, tallying seven on the offensive glass. He recorded new career bests in points as well as rebounds, good for his first career double-double.
Joining Stire in double figures was Peter Hooley (16), Joe Cremo (15) and Mike Rowley (14).
Ray Sanders picked up two steals, ascending to third on the single season steals Division I program leaderboard with 49. He needs four more takeaways to become the D-I program leader. With six more steals, he would become the seventh Division I Dane to reach 100 steals, doing so in just two seasons.
Fellow senior Peter Hooley is five points shy of reaching 1500.
Next up, UAlbany men's basketball hosts Hartford (9-21, 4-11 AE) for senior night on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. The Great Danes will honor the careers of four seniors, Peter Hooley, Ray Sanders, Evan Singletary and Reece Williams.
To purchase America East Quarterfinal tickets for next Wednesday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m., visit ualbanysports.com or call (518) 442-DANE.
