Illness may shelve two Danes for game against Siena

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bob Weiner

Richard Peters is out and Travis Charles doubtful for the University at Albany when it faces Siena in its annual Albany Cup showdown Saturday, as both are fighting stomach ailments.

Peters suffered food poisoning, and Charles has an undiagnosed malady, school officials said.

UAlbany head basketball coach Will Brown said Thursday that 6-foot-11 junior center Peters definitely won’t play Saturday, and 6-6 junior forward Charles most likely won’t play in the annual game for local bragging rights.

The absence of the big men will leave the Great Danes

(7-3) thin up front when they face the Saints (6-4).

The UAlbany training staff believes Peters has some form of food poisoning, and notes he was stricken shortly after eating at a local restaurant Monday night.

“We sent Richard to the hospital Monday night after he got sick just an hour after he ate,” UAlbany head trainer Jay Geiger said. “They put him through all the tests, and they came back negative for E. coli or meningitis. We believe that it was either food poisoning, or maybe a virus of some kind.”

Charles also ate at the same restaurant Monday but at a different time. UAlbany trainers aren’t sure if Charles’ illness is some kind of stomach ailment or discomfort in his chest.

Charles had bacterial pericarditis, an infection that causes a buildup of fluid around the heart, during the preseason, but has been deemed cured and healthy.

“There were two different symptoms, and we don’t think Travis’ illness was related to Richard’s, although he did eat at the same place,” Geiger said.