NEWARK, NJ (NEWS10) — Drumgoole Jr. Leads with 29, Great Danes Fall on the Road to NJIT

Score: NJIT 74, UAlbany 67

Location: NJIT Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey
 
Records: UAlbany (6-14, 1-4 America East) | NJIT (5-12, 2-2 America East)
 
Short Story: The University at Albany men’s basketball team fell on the road Saturday night to the NJIT Highlanders, 67-74. The score was tied after the first half of three, but solid shooting from the Highlanders in the second half put the home team up by double-digits – a deficit the Great Danes were unable to overcome. UAlbany entered the game with only seven dressed players, using a short bench throughout the contest. The loss is the first the Great Danes have suffered at the hands of the Highlanders, having gone 10-0 in all previous contests.  


Key Stat Lines

  • Gerald Drumgoole Jr. led all players with 29 points. UAlbany’s leading scorer knocked down five three-pointers and led the team in assists (5) and steals (2). He was the only Great Dane to play all 40 minutes.
  • Da’Kquan Davis finished with 19 points, entering into the starting lineup one again. The graduate student had 14 first-half points, finishing the night with four three-pointers. He finished with a team-high nine rebounds.
  • Freshman Jonathan Beagle was the final UAlbany player in double figures, finishing with 11 points. The big man finished with eight boards to end the game.
  • UAlbany shot 39.7% (23-58) from the field and 37% (10-27) from three. NJIT shot 42.9% (24-56) from the field and 46.7% (7-15) from three.
  • UAlbany won the rebounding war, 39-37.
  • The Great Danes had 12 turnovers, the Highlanders had just eight.


How it Happened:

  • UAlbany carried a 7-5 advantage into the first media TO. Jonathan Beagle led the way early, hitting a three to start the game before sending home a monster dunk to get the bench on its feet.
  • By the U12 media To, UAlbany pushed its lead to 15-9. Two threes from Da’Kquan Davis and another dunk from Beagle got the Great Danes to the 15-point mark.
  • NJIT got into a rhythm following the stop in play, going on a 9-0 run to force a timeout from the Great Danes. The scoreboard read 18-15 NJIT with 8:41 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer from Gerald Drumgoole Jr. out of the TO broke the scoring drought.
  • NJIT brought the score to 26-22, in its own favor, with 3:16 remaining. Heading into the TO, the Highlanders hit three of their last four from the field. On the other bench, the Great Danes went into a slump from behind the arc – hitting just one of their last four attempts from deep.
  • Following the stop in play, UAlbany hit back-to-back threes off the fingers of Drumgoole Jr. and Davis to take a 28-26 advantage.
  • With the game tied at 30, UAlbany’s Da’Kquan Davis hit a go-ahead three with seven seconds remaining in the first half. NJIT responded with a three-pointer of their own at the buzzer off the hands of Raheim Sullivan, tying the game heading into the locker room.
  • UAlbany shot 44.8% (13-29) from the field and 43.8% (7-16) from three in the first half. NJIT shot 43.3% (13-30) from the field and went 3-5 from deep.
  • UAlbany’s largest lead of the first half was nine points, NJIT’s was four.
  • UAlbany’s Davis led all scorers in the first half with 14 points, going 4-5 from deep.
  • NJIT came out of the locker room hot, scoring the first six to take the lead. UAlbany responded with a jumper from Beagle and a steal and layup from Marcus Jackson, but still trailed 42-37 by the first media TO.
  • With 12:27 remaining, UAlbany called TO down 47-42.
  • The Highlanders took the first double-digit lead of the night, 56-46, with 8:10 remining in the game. A three-pointer off the hands of Miles Coleman pushed the lead to 13 before TO was called with 7:41 in the game, 59-46.
  • Marcus Jackson fouled out of the game for UAlbany with 3:21 remaining. At that point, UAlbany trailed by nine points with an even shorter bench – just six players.
  • Down eight with 2:36 remaining, Da’Kquan Davis was able to fool his defender and draw the foul from beyond the arc. He sank all three foul shots to cut the deficit to five points.
  • Sarju Patel fouled out of the game with 4.5 seconds remaining.
  • UAlbany was unable to close the rest of the gap despite multiple threes down the stretch from Drumgoole Jr., with NJIT sealing the game with trips to the charity stripe.
  • UAlbany shot 34.5% (10-29) from the field and 27.3% (3-11) from three in the second half. NJIT shot 42.3% (11-26) from the field and 40% (4-10) from deep.