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MEN'S BASKETBALL ROLLS MONMOUTH, 82-63
Score: UAlbany 82, Monmouth 63
Location: SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.
Records: UAlbany (3-6); Monmouth (0-11)
Short Story: UAlbany snaps its four-game losing streak with a double-digit victory at home over Monmouth, 82-63.
Coach Brown: “Tonight was a tale of two halves. I thought in the first half Monmouth came out more anxious. They’re a physical team, and at halftime there was one glaring stat, they led in rebounding 20-8. I thought in the last 20 minutes we did a great job of playing with toughness and matching their intensity on the glass. I thought we got into a nice flow offensively. What we have with Antonio, Ahmad, and Cameron on the floor, it really spaced the floor out. I thought that our spacing was really good in the second half and we got some really good looks. Our defense and our toughness was much better in the second half. We really competed in the second half, we were more focused, and we were tougher. It was good to see, especially when we had four freshmen on the floor at the same time.”
Key Stats
Ahmad Clark scored UAlbany’s first eight points
Antonio Rizzuto made his season debut with 14:47 left in the first half
Clark shot 10-10 from the free throw line in the first half
Monmouth shot 51.6% from the floor in the first half
Monmouth out-rebounded UAlbany 20-8 in the first half
Four Great Danes scored in double-figures
Clark finished with 29 points, on 7-12 shooting, including 4-6 from three and 11-12 from the free throw line
UAlbany shot 50.0% in the second half, including 52.9% from three
Monmouth shot 27.6% in the second half
Recap
Returning home following an overseas tournament, the University at Albany hosted Monmouth in the Danes’ first home game since November 20. The Great Danes defeated the Hawks 82-63, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Junior guard Ahmad Clark paced the Great Danes early in the game, scoring UAlbany’s first eight points and scoring 10 points in his first nine minutes. By himself, Clark had matched Monmouth’s opening scoring run point-for-point through the first four minutes of the game
Mid-way through the first half, Monmouth went on a 12-0 run, opening up a 28-15 lead. Freshman Antonio Rizzuto, making his season debut, snapped Monmouth’s streak at 12 with a three-pointer to cut the Hawks’ lead to 28-18.
Trailing 32-20, UAlbany went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to six. UAlbany closed the half outscoring Monmouth 15-7 over the final 5:37 of the first.
The first half ended with Clark drawing a shooting foul behind the three-point line with 0.5 seconds remaining. He hit all three free throws to bring UAlbany within four points of Monmouth heading into the half. Clark finished the first half with 20 points, including 10-10 from the free throw line.
For the first half, UAlbany outscored Monmouth 14-3 at the line, but Monmouth outscored UAlbany 20-4 in the paint. Monmouth’s Ray Salnave scored 15 first-half points on 6-9 shooting. The Hawks led by as many as 13 in the half before UAlbany closed within four at the break.
