Only two games into the season, it looks like this year’s version of the AU men’s basketball team is in for a season of nail-bitters, as they lost their second straight game 51-50 to State University of New York at Albany.
| Men's Basketball | |
| Albany | 51 |
| AU | 50 |
| Washington, D.C. |
Albany revealed their strategy for the night as they opened up with a three-quarter court press to capitalize on AU’s youth.
“They [Albany] were trying to confuse our young players,” said Head Coach Jeff Jones. “We, however, got out in transition and were opportunistic, especially at the end of the first half.”
Albany continued the strong defense as they forced AU into some bad shots and pushed the ball forward. Senior captain Will Harris was able to knock down a three from atop the arc to lead Albany to a six-point lead.
AU got back into it quickly as sixth man Simon McCormack came back with two straight buckets to pull AU within four. Nick Hendra then lent his hand to the comeback as he dropped home a three from the corner and pulled AU within one. Mike Bersch finished off the run for AU when he was found wide open under the hoop for an easy layup and one point AU lead.
Albany wasn’t going roll over that easily, as they clamped down on the defensive end for the final three minutes and finished trailing 33-27 at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, neither defense was able to get much going, as both teams continued to battle back and forth. Five minutes into the second half, AU continued to lead and leapt 41-34 into the first timeout of the half.
Following the timeout, the tide switched, as Albany came out with a hot hand and went on a 13-2 run. The scoring gave them a four-point lead with six minutes left in the game.
The defenses continued to step up down the stretch, as the teams combined for a total of six points over the next four minutes. Following the final timeout on the floor, AU was able to force an Albany turnover with the shot clock running out. Munoz took the ball down the court for a three-point play.
Albany answered quickly with a layup of its own, taking the one point lead. AU then took the ball and worked the clock trying to find the open shot, but was unsuccessful. With time running out, they were forced to shoot a long floater that failed to go in.
AU’s defense stepped up once again, forcing another turnover that the offense quickly gave back to Albany on the other end of the court. AU would not get another shot to win the game as Albany went on to win.
“I’m disappointed, but at the same time proud of the effort we gave,” Jones said. “If we can scrap like that every game we will win our share of games this year.”
Stephen Lumpkins led the way for AU with 12 points and seven rebounds. McCormack came off the bench to add ten points of his own.
The Eagles will play Florida Atlantic University on Saturday in Bender Arena for their third home game of the season.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com
