Wait, What?
Albany had been carried by their interior scoring in recent contests. So much so, that they were able to win on the road last game while only shooting 1-11 from deep. Against New Hampshire Albany shot 32% on two point field goals, 18.4 points below their season average. How does a team who relies on their interior scoring make up for such a poor shooting percentage inside?
Shoot 11-24 (45.8%) from deep of course.
While New Hampshire was able to hang with the Great Danes in total rebounds (35-35) Albany once again thrived on the offensive glass. Their 8 offensive rebounds led to a 9-0 advantage in second chance points. Greig Stire who only played 17 minutes of a 45 minute contest, managed to pull down 4 offensive rebounds on his own.
Albany continues to make their living at the free throw line. Against New Hampshire the Great Danes finished 23-27 (85%) including 4-4 in overtime.
Eazy Bucket
UA was ice cold from the field to start this one as they found themselves down 12 early. Two Will Brown timeouts later, things finally got rolling. The first half offensively was dominated for Albany by Evan Singletary, who finished the first 20 with 15 points, shooting 5-7 from the field including a perfect 3-3 from deep.
Singletary would save his final 6 points (both on 3 pointers) for overtime. EA would also contribute 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory.
2H & Thoughts
The second half offensively seemed to be a tag team for Albany. Ray Sanders got hot early for the Great Danes on his way to a 17 point night. Joe Cremo found a way to make some layups, and get to the line late on his way to a 13 point night.
Cremo would also finish with a career high 9 rebounds on the evening.
While only Singletary, Sanders and Cremo would score in double figures, this was a team win for the Great Danes. Their ability to fight through such a poor shooting start to take a two point lead into halftime, was truly something special.
From Dallas Ennema hitting big threes and diving on the floor to Mike Rowley battling down low Albany got contributions throughout its roster.
UA managed to force 21 UNH turnovers, impressive since they came in averaging only 11.6 per game.
Considering Albany is still missing Travis Charles (get well soon), and Peter Hooley is still struggling; it's not hard to tell why Will Brown thought this was the deepest roster he's had in a while at UA during the preseason.
Speaking of Hooley's struggles; this was the first game (at least as far as I noticed) that WB chose to go with Cremo over Hooley during winning time. Late in the second half and during overtime Cremo remained on the court, while Hooley remained on the bench.
This could go one of two ways. At this point it's impossible to ignore how truly talented Joe Cremo is as he continues to compete on every play on both sides of the ball. Could he continue to dig into the minutes of Peter Hooley as he continues to struggle on the court?
Maybe.
I'm more in the camp that this was a message to his fifth year Senior. Once WB starts to see Peter Hooley regain confidence, and make smart basketball plays most (if not all) possessions, the minutes are once again his. Joe Cremo will go back to playing a utility role as he subs in for Singletary, Sanders and Hooley.
Albany has the ability to play both big and small as their bench pieces are all capable, and mostly experienced players. When Peter Hooley finds his groove (and he will sooner than later) we will finally get to see this squad at its apex.
For now I'm just amazed at their ability to find different ways to win, while limiting their opponents greatest strengths.
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