If the first fifteen minutes of the University of Albany’s season is a sign of what is to come, Will Brown’s squad should see major improvement this season. In Friday night’s 65 to 61 season opening loss, the Great Danes jumped out to a 22 to 10 lead on Cornell, a sweet sixteen team from last year. Sophomore guard Mike Black was electric, setting the tempo and scoring at will with ten points in the early going. However, at the 5:35 mark, Black suffered an ankle injury and didn’t return. Cornell quickly rallied to tie the score at 28 two and a half minutes after Black’s injury. UAlbany had senior guard Tim Ambrose and Logan Aronhalt step up to retake the lead at the half 37 to 35.
In the second half, the Danes played hard before Cornell pulled away with their outside shooting and offensive rebounding. UAlbany had a chance to tie in the last minute, though they never got off a shot. Ambrose came off the bench to lead the scoring attack with 20 points and 4 assists. Logan Aronhalt chipped in 13 points.
Despite the loss, UAlbany coach Will Brown was happy with his team’s play. “This team is certainly better, we played hard and we are going to make a lot of youthful mistakes,” said Brown. When asked about what was going through his head when Black crumpled to the ground in the first half, his answer was simple: “Oh crap.” Following the game, the Danes head man didn’t know the extent of Black’s injury, but feared it was a high ankle sprain. It appears doubtful he will play Monday and there is a good chance he will not travel with the team on their road trip Wednesday to Georgia Tech.
Albany freshman Luke Devlin playing in his first collegiate was solid with 10 points and 9 rebounds. The Australia native said he was overwhelmed by the home crowd of almost 4,000 at the SEFCU Arena. “I’ve never played in front of a crowd that big,” said Devlin. The Aussie added he’s only used to playing in front of friends and family, the most he’s previously played in front of is less than 1,000 in the Australian National Championship game.
The Great Danes return to the court Monday night against American back at the SEFCU Arena.
Observations
Without Black in the lineup, Albany didn’t have many players outside of Ambrose and Aronholt who could create their own shot.
The post players outside of Devlin didn’t chip in much and will have to rebound and score more moving forward.