Yale snaps UAlbany men's basketball's winning streak

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Will Brown is shown during Wednesday's game.

ALBANY — Undersized and undermanned, the Great Danes couldn’t keep up Wednesday with a Yale squad that UAlbany men’s basketball head coach Will Brown has described throughout the last several days as the best opponent his team will face this season at SEFCU Arena.

So while UAlbany’s three-game winning streak ended with a 61-52 defeat against one of the Ivy League’s top teams, Brown was encouraged Wednesday night with the fight his players showed and the progress his group appeared to make on a night it only was able to suit up eight scholarship players.

“I don’t like to lose. Losing stings,” said Brown, who is one win away from 300 for his UAlbany career. “But I thought we got better today. I thought we played with a tremendous sense of urgency. I thought we competed at a high level. I thought we were physical.”

Already missing redshirt junior Jojo Anderson (knee), redshirt sophomore Adam Lulka (ankle) and redshirt freshman Sam Shafer (shoulder) for past games, UAlbany was also without sophomore Malachi de Sousa (knee) and freshman Mitch Doherty (ankle) for Wednesday’s loss. With all those players unavailable, the Great Danes used only seven players against Yale.

After a poor start that saw UAlbany (5-4) miss its first six shots, the Great Danes settled down and got into halftime up 29-28. Early in the second half, though, Yale (7-3) took control with an 13-5 run. From there, UAlbany stayed within striking range, but the Great Danes never could get closer than within three points the rest of the night. Yale maintained at least a two-possession lead for the final 12:36.

“Just through toughness, really,” UAlbany redshirt sophomore Cameron Healy said of how the Great Danes tried to stay competitive with Yale. “We knew that we were kind of shorthanded coming into this game and Yale’s a very good team. They just beat Vermont. We were just focused on playing really tough on the defensive end and rebounding. We knew we had to play for each other, but we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game and we had to bring it for 40 minutes.”

For Yale, 6-foot-10 junior Paul Atkinson scored 14 points and had nine rebounds, while 6-foot-9 senior Jordan Bruner had 17 points. Atkinson made 6 of 7 shots from the field.

Healy led UAlbany with 17 points, while Clark added 10, and freshman Trey Hutcheson and senior Kendall Lauderdale each added eight.

“I think our energy was really good,” Hutcheson said. “We played a lot harder tonight — and that’s just something that has to continue.”

UAlbany next plays Saturday vs. Bucknell.

Yale freshman August Mahoney, who is from Saratoga Springs and graduated from Albany Academy, played five minutes in his return to the Capital Region. Mahoney was scoreless, but had a rebound and an assist.

UALBANY WOMEN ROLL TO WIN

Playing against Division III Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham in the first half of Wednesday’s doubleheader at SEFCU Arena, the UAlbany women’s basketball team secured an 81-21 victory.

UAlbany scored the game’s first 24 points and held FDU-Florham, which brought a 2-5 mark into the matchup, without a point until a free throw with 8:41 left in the second quarter. FDU-Florham missed its first 19 shots, made 3 of 33 shots in the first half and 8 of 56 overall.

UAlbany junior Kyara Frames said the Great Danes focused on staying disciplined throughout Wednesday’s game, especially during their game-opening 24-0 run. Despite that start, Frames said the Great Danes knew they were far from perfect.

“It honestly wasn’t as exciting as you expect,” Frames said. “That’s why I love coach [Colleen] Mullen because we were up 24-0, but we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do. That shows how good of a coach she is, because some coaches would be excited that we’re up — that we’re putting a show on — but the focus tonight wasn’t beating the other team, it was us getting better.”

Frames led UAlbany with 13 points, while junior Patricia Conroy and senior Alexi Schecter had 11 points.

“Great team win. It was really fun to watch a lot of players contribute tonight in the win,” Mullen said. “It’s always a little bit of a challenge playing in a game like this where it’s kind of a trap game where you know you’re supposed to win, but you also want to work on getting better and making sure you’re doing the things that you need to do to execute to win at this level, but also you want to be respectful and you want it to be where everybody can contribute.”

The victory boosted UAlbany’s record to 4-5. The Great Danes play Saturday at Siena.

MEN

YALE

Atkinson 6-7 2-2 14, Bruner 6-11 0-0 17, Gabbidon 4-6 0-0 10, Monroe 0-4 0-0 0, Swain 4-9 1-2 11, Cotton 2-6 0-0 5, Alausa 1-1 1-2 3, Mahoney 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Dike 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 23-49 5-8 61.

UALBANY

Hank 1-1 2-2 4, Rizzuto 0-5 0-0 0, Hutcheson 3-5 0-0 8, Clark 3-14 3-3 10, Healy 6-15 2-2 17, Hansen 2-6 0-0 5, Lauderdale 4-7 0-0 8. Totals: 19-53 7-7 52.

Halftime score: UAlbany 29, Yale 28. Three-point shooting: Yale 10-23 (Bruner 5-7, Gabbidon 2-3, Monroe 0-3, Swain 2-6, Cotton 1-4), UAlbany 7-26 (Rizzuto 0-4, Hutcheson 2-4, Clark 1-7, Healy 3-7, Hansen 1-4). Rebounds: Yale 31 (Atkinson 9), UAlbany 27 (Lauderdale 6). Assists: Yale 13 (Monroe 5), UAlbany 14 (Healy 6). Turnovers: Yale 13, UAlbany 10. Total fouls: Yale 9, UAlbany 11. Fouled out: Hutcheson. Attendance: 2,337.

WOMEN

FDU-FLORHAM

Sutton 1-8 1-3 3, Ishmael 1-2 1-4 3, Staggers 3-6 0-0 6, Roman 2-17 1-2 5, Bing 1-10 0-0 2, Shipe 0-2 1-2 1, Coleman 0-2 1-2 1, Downey 0-6 0-0 0, Bass 0-3 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 8-56 5-13 21.

UALBANY

Kantzy 4-11 2-2 10, Schecter 3-6 5-6 11, Frames 6-9 0-1 13, Stokes 2-7 1-2 5, Aslan 1-1 0-0 2, Haegerstrand 4-8 0-0 9, Conroy 4-7 0-0 11, Decortes 3-5 1-2 7, Om 1-2 2-2 4, Johnson 2-4 2-3 7, Hanner 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 31-63 13-18 81.

FDU-Florham 0 9 9 3 — 21

UAlbany 22 25 13 21 — 81

Three-point shooting: FDU-Florham 0-17 (Sutton 0-3, Roman 0-7, Bing 0-1, Coleman 0-1, Downey 0-5), UAlbany 6-14 (Frames 1-4, Stokes 0-1, Haegerstrand 1-1, Conroy 3-6, Johnson 1-2). Rebounds: FDU-Florham 27 (Bing 8), UAlbany 44 (Schecter 8). Assists: FDU-Florham 3 (Sutton, Staggers, Roman 1), UAlbany 19 (Frames, Conroy 4). Turnovers: FDU-Florham 17, UAlbany 12. Total fouls: FDU-Florham 14, UAlbany 16.