Danes can't overcome second-half surge by Maine

Posted: Jan 29, 2023 / 12:49 AM EST

Updated: Jan 29, 2023 / 09:44 AM EST

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The University at Albany men’s basketball team was unable to hold off a second-half push from the University of Maine Black Bears on Saturday night in a 72-68 loss. The Great Danes led by as much as 13 in the first half, shooting 50.0% from the field in the first frame. Maine’s response, shooting 57.1% in the second half, along with 15 UAlbany turnovers, was too much to overcome for the Great Danes.

Head Coach Dwayne Killings: “We really focused the last couple day on moving the ball and trying to work at our offense. I thought we responded pretty well, 17 assists and 26 made field goals. I thought in the first half we moved the ball really well and got out to a good lead, and then they made a really good adjustment by moving to zone. I thought it made us very tentative.”

Key Stat Lines

Freshman Jonathan Beagle led the team with 16 points, shooting a team-best 7-11 from the field. He finished with six rebounds and two assists.
Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Aaron Reddish both finished with 14 points. Drumgoole Jr. led the team in assists (7) and steals (1), playing all 40 minutes. Reddish returned to the starting lineup and made impactful threes late in the game to keep UAlbany alive.
Sarju Patel and Marcus Jackson each finished with 10 points. Patel went 4-7 from the field, finishing with three rebounds and an assist. Jackson led the team in rebounds with eight. Both players finished with a block.
The Great Danes shot 52.0% (26-50) from the field and 38.9% (7-18) from beyond the arc. Maine shot 50.9% (28-55) from the field and 22.7% (5-22) from deep.
UAlbany won the rebounding war, 30-24.
The Great Danes finished with 15 turnovers compared to the Black Bears’ seven.

How it Happened:

The game started with a two-handed slam from Jonathan Beagle, energizing the bench and the crowd.
A flagrant foul was called on Maine’s Jaden Clayton within the first three minutes, sending Marcus Jackson to the line for free foul shots.
After jumping out to an 8-2 advantage, Maine closed the gap to 8-7 following a five-point swing just before the first media TO.
The Great Danes brought a 14-11 lead into the U12 media TO after a drive through the lane from Malik Edmead, who made the bucket and drew the fouled – resulting in an and-one.
Maine was forced to call a TO with 9:46 remaining. On back-to-back plays, Aaron Reddish threw down a two-handed dunk before hitting a wide-open three – shooting UAlbany ahead 22-13. Buckets from Beagle and Jackson in the following minutes put the Great Danes ahead by double-digits, 26-13, at the U8 media TO.
Maine was able to close the gap by just a few points, trailing 21-32 by the final media TO of the first half with 3:32 on the clock.
Maine cut the gap to just five points heading into the locker room at halftime. UAlbany shot 50.0% (13-26) from the field and 33.3% (3-9) from three in the first half. Maine shot 44.4% (12-27) from the field and went just 1-10 from three.
Maine’s Gedi Juozapaitis led all scorers in the first half with 11 points. Leading the way for UAlbany was Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Aaron Reddish, both with eight.
Maine started the second half with a quick 5-0 run, tying the game a 34 before a bucket from Beagle put the Great Danes back in the lead. Maine would regain the advantage, however, thanks to a wide-open three from Kellen Tynes. The scoreboard read 39-38 in favor of the Black Bears with 15:57 on the clock.
Both teams remained hot shooting, going back and forth over the next five minutes. UAlbany held a 54-52 advantage with 9:49 left in the game. Jonathan Bealge was responsible for half (10) of UAlbany’s 20 points in the second half to start.
Two straight steals from Maine tied the game at 56, forcing Coach Dwayne Killings to call TO with 6:57 remaining.
Aaron Reddish hit his third three-pointer of the night with 3:48 remaining, putting UAlbany up 63-62 before a TO was called by Coach Killings.
Maine got out to a four-point advantage after the TO with a jumper from Ja’Shonte Wright-Mcleish and a three-pointer from Ata Turgut, 67-63. A Marcus Jackson layup got UAlbany back to within a possession with under two minutes remaining.
UAlbany suffered from two consecutive miscommunications, one on offense and one on defense, to fall behind by two possessions once again with 33 seconds remaining, 69-65.
Sarju Patel buried a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining to bring it back to a one-possession game, 70-68. Maine would go on to make free throws to seal the game for the win.
UAlbany shot 54.2% (13-24) from the field and 44.4% (4-9) from three in the second half. Maine shot 57.1% (16-28) from the field and 33.3% (4-12) from three.