Men's Basketball Score: UAlbany 78, Holy Cross 62

Location: Worcester, Mass. – Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex

Records: UAlbany (6-0), Holy Cross (2-3)

Short Story: The UAlbany men's basketball team stayed undefeated with a 78-62 road victory at Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon, seeing Joe Cremo surpass the career 1,000-point mark.

Key Stats:

• UAlbany: Joe Cremo earned a career-high 30 points, earning his 1,000th with 1:04 left in the 2nd. He now stands with 1,001 career points.  He shot 10-for-17 from the field, including 7-for-10 from three, plus five assists.  Travis Charles shot 7-for-9 with 15 points and four boards while David Nichols notched 12 points, six assists, three steals and five rebounds.
• Holy Cross: Karl Charles had a team-high 16 points plus two assists. Jehyve Floyd tallied 10 points and four rebounds.
• Cremo is the 10th player in UAlbany's Division I history to reach the 1,000-point mark, the first since Peter Hooley surpassed that mark on February 13th, 2015.
• UAlbany's 6-0 start is its first since the 1985-86 season.

Key Situations:

• 18:20-16:02 1st half: Sparked by a corner kick-out three by Devonte Campbell, UAlbany goes on an 19-2 run, with Travis Charles and Campbell combined for 4-for-4 from the field in that span, to send UAlbany up 11-4.
• 7:11-4:41 1st half: Holy Cross goes on a 7-0 run to pull within five at 30-25 UAlbany.
• 1:00-0:00 1st half: Two more threes by Joe Cremo helps UAlbany lead 43-35 at the half.
• 7:59-7:13 2nd half: Holy Cross hits two baskets in the span of a minute, pulling two within five. The home team has a chance to pull within one possession, with UAlbany holding on defense twice.
• 3:25-1:48 2nd half: UAlbany effectively seals the game with a 7-0 run, started by a David Nichols jumper and finished by two Cremo baskets, to give UAlbany a 73-58 advantage.
• 1:04 2nd half: Cremo hits a fast break layup from Nichols to earn his 1,000th career point.

Quote:

“It feels good to score 1,000 points, but I want to give credit where it is due: I would not be close to that mark without my teammates; they put me in great spots today, just like they have in my whole career.” – UAlbany junior forward Joe Cremo

“Congratulations to Joe Cremo for earning his 1,000th point, I know how hard he works and how important the game is to him.  This is a good win against a difficult opponent, Holy Cross presents different challenges with the old Princeton offense, and defensively they do not let you get in any rhythm.  A strong road win, now we have to turn around and play a good Monmouth team on Monday.” - UAlbany head coach Will Brown

Recap: With Joe Cremo earning his 1,000th career point, the UAlbany men's basketball team continued its undefeated start with a 78-62 road victory over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon.

UAlbany's early attacks in the paint showed dividends; with Devonte Campbell hitting a corner three, he and Travis Charles put together an 11-2 run, making all four shots between the two, to make it 11-4 UAlbany.

UAlbany built its lead to double digits, using a couple of kickout threes from David Nichols to Joe Cremo against the Holy Cross zone defense.  An Alex Foster putback layup with 9:34 left in the 1st gave UAlbany a 26-13 advantage.

Holy Cross pulled to within five with a 7-0 run with just over four minutes remaining in the first.  David Nichols ended the streak with a weaving drive to the basket and one, then Campbell adding a putback to build UAlbany's lead back to 10 at 35-25.

The sides exchanged points back and forth the rest of the half, with two more Cremo threes keeping UAlbany ahead.  The Great Danes led 43-35 at the break.

Holy Cross started to chip away at UAlbany's advantage, using a couple of Karl Charles threes and a Patrick Benzan layup to pull within one possession at 50-47 with 15:33 left.  Matt Conway got a putback jumper, followed by Cremo burying a three, to put UAlbany's lead back to eight.

With 7:59 left, Costa Anderson hit a corner three to push UAlbany back up by double digits.  Two quick baskets by Holy Cross brought the Crusaders back within five at 61-56 with 7:13 left.  UAlbany held on defense the next four minutes to keep the lead, building its advantage back to 10 with 3:25 to play.

Following two Karl Charles free throws, UAlbany sealed the game with a 7-0 run, started by Nichols hitting a jumper, then Cremo burying a three and a layup.  Cremo scored his 1,000th point on a layup from Nichols with 1:04 left.  UAlbany took the 78-62 victory.

UAlbany makes a quick turnaround, heading to New Jersey on Monday night for a contest at Monmouth at 7 p.m.