Helloooooo Eagles fans! Time for a preview of tonight's matchup against the Scooby-Doos of UAlbany. The Just Okay, Not Great, Danes are fresh off a loss to the defending Ivy League Champ Cornell Big Red. The Danes led at halftime and lost by only 4, 65-61. Pretty surprising to go toe to toe with Cornell that way.
Last year, we lost 51-50 to Albany at home. This year, we'll have to hope to take it to them on their home court. Before their game against Cornell, I would've told you it would be easy to do so. Now, I'm not so sure.
I think that Stephen Lumpkins is the key to the game tonight. He'll be matched up against 6'10 240lb red shirt freshman John Puk. Lump is giving up height and size to Puk, but Lump is quicker and has more experience. If we can get an established inside game tonight, I think we can just hammer at them with Tony and Lump and bring a win home.
One thing that should be worrisome for us tonight is the talented guard play that Albany brings. It'll be up to Troy and Nick to really play some strong defense on the perimeter to keep their shots offbalanced and to hopefully force some turnovers. On our side, we need to make sure Danny/Steve have outlets bringing the ball up. With the guards Albany has, we could face some pressure getting it up the floor. Best to make sure Lump or Vlad is near the top of the key until we can get it over midcourt.
The most important thing tonight is the first two minutes of the game. We cannot afford to come out flat and not ready to play the way we did against St. Francis. We need to have our heads screwed on straight from the opening tip. It's one thing to come back against a team in front of your home crowd when you've got a great home court advantage. It's an entirely different thing to try to do the same in a hostile environment.
We'll be liveblogging tonight, per usual. Check in with us around 6:45! See you then!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
