College basketball: UAlbany downs Oneonta

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bob Weiner

Despite the lopsided score, Oneonta’s head coach and several Section II graduates felt it was a learning experience for a Division III program to play Division I University at Albany.

The Red Devils, led by former Hudson Valley Community College coach Vince Medici (he still lives in Latham), and comprised of former local high school standouts like Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs), Grant Massaroni (Mohonasen) and Dwayne Freeman (Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons) dropped a 92-49 decision to the Great Danes Saturday night at SEFCU Arena.

But everyone involved said they would gladly do this again.

“I have no regrets,” said Medici. “I love challenges. When I was at HVCC, we always played some of the toughest teams in the country. Obviously, I’m from the area, and playing in front of family and friends was great. Plus, this is a great recruiting area for us. I would definitely do this again.”

Medici lamented his team shot only 30.5 percent from the floor, but he said that was not the only reason his team was crushed.

“The difference between Division I and Division III teams is in size, strength and quickness,” he said.

For McElroy, a 6-foot-3 guard who was averaging 12.5 points per game in his first two contests for the 1-2 Red Devils, there were few surprises.

“I thought it was a great experience for us,” he said. “They were a lot bigger and quicker than us, but it was a tremendous challenge. This was one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever played in. It was a lot of fun to play in front of that many people.”

Massaroni said he received plenty of texts from all of his 518 friends.

“It was pretty cool playing in this game,” he said. “I haven’t played in this environment since back in the sectionals at the Glens Falls Civic Center. We were right there with them for a while, but then it kind of got out of our hands. But this will be good for us in the long run. It’s like swinging a bat with a donut. When we play teams on our own level, we will be a lot better.”

The three local players said they have fond memories of competing against UAlbany’s local products, Joe Cremo of Scotia-Glenville and Greig Stire of Christian Brothers Academy. Massaroni and Freeman, especially, had strong rivalries with Cremo.

Medici said his team picked up valuable experience, even though the game didn’t turn out the way he hoped.

“Even if I was playing Duke, I still would go into the game thinking we were going to win,” he said “But their guards were like our big men.”

UAlbany head coach Will Brown said he was concerned his players wouldn’t treat the Red Devils with enough respect.

“I do think, absolutely, that it was hard for our guys to get up for them. It’s easy to get up for Kentucky,” he said.

“But I liked our energy in the second half. A lot of our guys got an opportunity to play. This game served a lot of purposes. If we do decide to play another game against a non-Division I opponent next year, I would definitely give Vince Medici the first opportunity, and then I would look at another state school.”

UAlbany and Oneonta were longtime rivals in the SUNYAC.

ONEONTA (49)

McElroy 3-12 3-4 9, Coleman 3-7 2-4 10, Zuvic 3-10 0-0 7, Dignan 4-7 2-2 11, Thomsen 0-1 0-0 0, Kolosky 1-5 0-0 2, Sanfilippo 0-0 0-0 0 Massaroni 0-0 0-0 0, Schupp 0-3 0-0 0, Devine 3-4 0-0 6, Levin 0- 0-0 0, Freeman 1-2 2-3 4, Brink 0-3 0-0 0, Soeder 0-0 0-0 0, Pocyntyluk 0-0 0-0 0, Joyce 0-3 0-2 0. Totals: 18-59 9-15 49.

UALBANY (92)

Rowley 5-8 3-6 13, Stire 2-3 2- 6, Singletary 5-9 1-1 12, Sanders 2-5 0-0 5, Hooley 3-4 3-4 9, Andrews 2-10 5-6 10, Cremo 3-4 1-2 7, Nichols 2-3 3-5 7, Peters 3-3 2-2 8, Ennema 1-2 3-3 5, Charles 3-6 4-6 10. Totals: 31-57 27-37 92.

Halftime: UAlbany, 50-32. 3-point goals: Oneonta 4-21 (McElroy 0-4, Coleman 2-4, Zuic 1-6, Dignan 1-2, Levin 0-2, Freeman 0-1, Joyce 0-2); UAlbany 3-14 (Singletary 1-2, Sanders 1-2, Hooley 0-1, Andrews 1-6, Cremo 0-1, Nichols 0-1, Ennema 0-1). Rebounds: Oneonta 32 (Coleman 5), UAlbany 43 (Peters 10). Assists: Oneonta 10 (Dignan 6), UAlbany 13 (Sanders 5). Total fouls: Oneonta 24, UAlbany 16. Officials: Ken Turner, Andrew Maira, Kyle Waler. Attendance: 3,562.