AMHERST, MA (NEWS10) — The University at Albany men’s basketball team fell in its season opener to UMass, 92-71.

Coach Dwayne Killings
“They broke the game open, I thought it broke our spirit. We couldn’t really get back into it. We were really good against two good programs in our scrimmages, we clawed through yhe games, but we couldn’t do that today.”
 
Key Stat Lines

  • Sebastian Thomas led all UAlbany players with 19 points, going 5-10 from the field and 3-4 from deep.
  • Aaron Reddish led the team in with six rebounds, followed by Tyler Bertram with five. Reddish totaled eight points in the game, Bertram was the team’s second leading scorer with 11.
  • Freshman Jack Margoupis totaled eight second half points in his first collegiate game.
  • The Great Danes shot 35.7% (20-56) from the field, going 9-26 from beyond the arc. UMass shot 43.4% (33-76) from the field and 45.5% (10-22) from three.  


How it Happened:

  • UMass jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead, forcing Dwayne Killings to call an early timeout.
  • Jonathan Beagle made the first bucket of the season for the Great Danes, hauling in a rebound and putting it back up on the glass.
  • UAlbany responded with an 11-2 run to close the gap to 11-14 midway through the first half. Sebastian Thomas contributed two threes on the run.
  • The Minutemen used a 13-1scoring run to push their lead to 30-16 with nine minutes remaining in the first half. UAlbany shot just 33% from the field early on, committing five turnovers to UMass’ zero.
  • The Minutemen would cruise to a 46-26 halftime lead. UAlbany shot just 32.1% (9-28) from the field in the first half and 36.4% (4-11) from deep. UMass shot 41.9% (18-43) from the field and 61.5% (8-13 from three.
  • UMass out-rebounded UAlbany 26-20 in the first half and only committed three turnovers to UAlbany’s nine.
  • Jonathan Beagle led all UAlbany scorers in the first half with eight points. He was followed by Sebastian Thomas with seven.
  • UMass extended the lead to 57-34 by the first timeout of the second half. UAlbany came out of the locker room shooting 2-5 from the field with buckets from Tyler Bertram, Amar’e Marshall, and Sebastian Thomas.
  • The scoreboard read 71-44 in favor of the Minutemen with nine minutes remaining in the second half.
  • UAlbany shot 39.3% (11-28) from the field in the second half. UMass shot 45.5%, going 15-33.