First-half scoring drought sinks UAlbany against St. John's

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

UAlbany head coach Will Brown's Great Danes lost 85-57 at St. John's on Wednesday night.

NEW YORK — UAlbany went over 11 minutes without a point for a stretch in the first half as St. John’s took control on the way to an 85-57 non-conference victory at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday night.

The Great Danes (6-7) led 8-3 after Cameron Healy’s 3-pointer 2:42 after the opening tip, but by the time UAlbany scored again, on a layup by Romani Hansen with 6:17 left in the half, the Red Storm led 24-10.

UAlbany didn’t get closer than 12 of St. John’s lead in the second half.

Malachi De Sousa scored a career-high 22 points on 8-for-11 from the field for the Great Danes, and Antonio Rizzuto scored 12 points.

The Red Storm’s Julian Champagnie and Marcellus Earlington had a productive and efficient scoring night, with 14 points in 20 minutes and 16 points in 18 minutes, respectively.

They were a combined 14-for-18 from the field.

“I felt, watching film, that St. John’s was one of the hardest-playing teams in the country, and their offense is predicated on their defense,” UAlbany head coach Will Brown said. “They do a great job of turning teams over. They have good size and athleticism, and they’re relentless defensively. We struggled with ball security a little bit, and I thought in the first half we had some clean looks we just didn’t knock down.”

St. John’s outrebounded UAlbany 47-30, and forced 24 turnovers.

The teams were nearly identical from 3-point range, but overall St. John’s was 36-for-71 (50.7%) from the field, and the Great Danes were 20-for-56 (35.7%).

“I thought it was really important for us to come out with a good start in the second half and we had a couple of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on,” Brown said. “They did a great job of speeding us up, and stylistically, this is the worst matchup for our team, the way our team is constructed. So we’ll watch the film, learn from it, forget about it, and find a way to win on Saturday at Monmouth.”

UALBANY (57)

M.De Sousa 8-11 4-4 22, R.Hansen 2-6 2-2 6, Lauderdale 1-3 2-4 4, Hank 0-0 0-0 0, Ah.Clark 2-14 0-1 5, S.French 1-1 0-0 2, C.Healy 2-8 0-0 5, Lulka 0-0 1-3 1, Rizzuto 4-8 2-2 12, Doherty 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 11-16 57.

ST. JOHN’S (85)

Js.Roberts 2-3 4-7 8, G.Williams Jr 4-7 0-0 11, Caraher 3-6 1-1 7, Earlington 8-10 0-2 16, L.Figueroa 4-17 0-0 9, Jl.Champagnie 6-8 1-1 14, R.Dunn 4-11 1-2 10, T.O’Connell 0-1 0-0 0, Sears 2-2 0-0 4, N.Rutherford 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 36-71 7-13 85.

Halftime score—St. John’s 35, UAlbany 57. 3-Point Goals—UAlbany 6-27 (M.De Sousa 2-4, Rizzuto 2-5, Ah.Clark 1-6, C.Healy 1-6, R.Hansen 0-1, Lauderdale 0-1, Hutcheson 0-4), St. John’s 6-21 (G.Williams Jr 3-5, Jl.Champagnie 1-2, R.Dunn 1-3, L.Figueroa 1-8, N.Rutherford 0-1, Caraher 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—UAlbany 27 (R.Hansen 7), St. John’s 42 (Earlington 9). Assists—UAlbany 11 (Ah.Clark 6), St. John’s 18 (N.Rutherford 7). Total Fouls—Albany 13, St. John’s 19. A—NA.