Kurt Busch Beats Johnson For Martinsville Win

Kurt Busch got by Jimmie Johnson with 11 laps to go Sunday and held on to win his 25th career NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

The victory was his first triumph in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and the first victory as a Sprint Cup crew chief for Daniel Knost.

Kurt Busch Fan Merchandise

Kentucky Punches Last Ticket To Final 4

Freshman Aaron Harrison hit a three point shot with less than three seconds left to lift Kentucky to a 75-72 win over Michigan and send the Wildcats to the Final Four.

Kentucky will face Wisconsin next Saturday in the NCAA national semifinals.

UConn will play Florida in the other semi.

UAlbany WBB Returns to AE Title Game after Craig, Richards Lead Great Danes Past Hartford 65-51

ALBANY, N.Y. – Led by 42 combined points from Megan Craig and Shereesha Richards, the 1-seeded UAlbany women’s basketball team is back in the America East title game for the third-straight year after defeating 5-seed Hartford 65-51 on Sunday in the America East semifinals.

UAlbany (27-4) will play the winner of Stony Brook-New Hampshire on Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU, seeking its third-consecutive America East title.

“The word is poise,” said UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “Hartford is a great three-point shooting team.  We made a great adjustment at the half, but had good poise offensively and defensively.”

After a 15-3 run to close out the first half up 30-20, UAlbany did not trail Hartford (13-18) the rest of the way.
Craig shot 10-15 from the field to finish with 23 points and six boards for UAlbany, while Richards was 7-11 shooting with 19 points and seven rebounds.

“Being in the conference championship game is something we have looked forward to all preseason, I am excited about tomorrow and to try to get that three-peat,” said Craig.

“Megan [Craig] and I knew we were going to get double-teamed,” said Richards. “We know is one of us is covered, the other is open.”

Sarah Royals finished with 11 points, eight assists and three steals, while Tammy Phillip got two points and 10 rebounds.

For Hartford, Amber Bepko shot 5-11 from three to conclude with 21 points, while Alyssa Englert had six points and five assists.

UAlbany attacked the paint early, finding Craig and Richards for layups to take a 4-0 lead.  Hartford countered with a quick strike guard lineup to five points in a row, but UAlbany countered with its own 7-0 run on a Margarita Rosario corner three and two more Craig layups to go up 11-5 through five minutes.
The Hawks fired away from three, with Bepko hitting a couple of elbow threes en route to a 11-4 streak by Hartford to take a 17-15 advantage.

UAlbany kept going into the post, trying to beat Hartford’s zone defense.  A Craig layup broke the Hartford run, while a Rosario three gave UAlbany the lead.  The Great Danes made stops on defense and added to its burst with more layups, including Zakiya Saunders finding Richards on the fast break attempt, to surge forward with a 15-0 run for a 30-17 lead.  Englert hit a three in the final half-minute, but UAlbany was up 30-20 going into the locker room.

Both teams continued their strategy in the second half, with Richards receiving a fast break pass from Royals to hit the layup and one to build the lead to 38-25 in the half’s opening 2:35.

With the visitors getting to within seven with help from a couple of threes, UAlbany countered with three consecutive layups from a trio of different players to rebuild the lead to 46-33 with 12:16 left.

The home team had a scoring drought with just two points in a span on five minutes.  Hartford got to within eight in that time, capped by a long Englert three to beat the shot clock, making it 50-42 UAlbany.  Royals ended the run with an elbow three, with Richards adding two free throws to put UAlbany back up 13.

A last gasp by Hartford on a Bepko three and Morgan Lumb free throws brought the Hawks within nine with 2:17 remaining.  UAlbany did not allow any more points to Hartford, holding off Hartford’s three-point shooting attack and scoring the final five points for the eventual 65-51 final score.

#18/17 UAlbany Uses Top-Offensive Performance Ever to Crush #9/10 UMass 25-10

AMHERST, Mass. – Led by 23 points from the Thompson trio, the #18/17 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team took down one of the top defenses in DI, defeating #9/10 UMass 25-10 on the road on Saturday.

UAlbany (2-2) ties its top offensive game tally in its history, matching its 25 goals against Hartford in a 25-9 victory on March 26, 2005.  UAlbany achieved this goal against a defense that ranked third in Division I in goals allowed per game (5.5) coming into this game.

This is the first time since 2006 that the road team has won this matchup, when UAlbany defeated UMass 9-8.
“Not only were we very prepared and motivated, but we executed as well as any team I have ever coached,” said UAlbany head coach Scott Marr. “If there was a game to bottle, it would be this one.”

Lyle Thompson finished with 11 points, off four goals and seven assists, adding three ground balls.  Miles Thompson had six goals (and one assist) to lead all goal-scorers, while Ty Thompson netted five goals.  Off the bench, Bennett Drake scored a goal with three assists, while Derrick Eccles had a trio of assists.  Earning the win was Blaze Riorden, who saved 18 shots in just under 50 minutes, allowing eight goals.
For UMass (4-1), Matt Whippen had two goals and an assist off the bench, while Connor Mooney and Ryan Curley each had two points.

Each of the Thompsons gave out firing early, with Miles, Lyle and Ty scoring unassisted in succession in the opening 3:13.  Ty Thompson added another from Drake to make it 4-0 after four-and-a-half minutes.  The Minutemen broke the run with a Whippen goal, but UAlbany scored three of the final four goals of the half, started by an LSM score by Eric Cantor finished with a Tim Cox goal, to end the first quarter up 7-2.
Cox’s goal started a long run for UAlbany into the next period.  Miles Thompson scored three of the next four goals, then John Maloney scored in a man-up situation.  Lyle Thompson added two more unassisted goals, finishing the streak at eight-consecutive goals and giving UAlbany a 14-2 advantage with 6:04 left in the second quarter.

UMass rolled off a pair of goals in the next 70 seconds, which was countered by UAlbany goals from Maloney and Will Stenberg.  UAlbany went into halftime leading 16-4.

After Robert Lynott’s goal to start the third quarter for UMass, UAlbany went on another run, with Ty Thompson, Maloney, Ty Thompson again and Lyle Thompson scoring in a row to build the advantage to 20-5 with 5:08 in the third.  The team’s went back and forth the rest of the half as the Great Danes kept the advantage into quarter number four, leading 21-7.

Following a Miles Thompson goal off the faceoff in the final period, UAlbany added three more goals in the fourth, including the first collegiate goal for each Drake and Tom Nuckel.  The Great Danes finished the contest with the 25-10 victory.

UAlbany returns home to take on Bryant next Saturday, March 15 at John Fallon Field at 1 p.m.

Hooley’s 30 Points Buries Shorthanded UMBC 86-56

ALBANY, N.Y. – University at Albany men’s basketball (16-14) came out swinging on Saturday night, downing the No. 5 seed UMBC 86-56 at SEFCU Arena in the America East Quarterfinals. Peter Hooley scored 30 points on 12-for-16 shooting to lead the Great Danes.

The Retrievers went 2-for-14 from the field in the opening eight minutes, while UAlbany went 3-for-3 from three, including two threes from Hooley. Dallas Ennema extended UAlbany’s lead to 15 points, 20-5, on a three soon after.
Hooley had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting before committing his second foul with 9:42 left in the first half. The sophomore would remain on the bench for the duration of the half.
The Purple & Gold went on a 14-0 run mid-way through the first half. The Retrievers went scoreless for nearly seven minutes. At the under-eight media timeout, UMBC was just 4-for-22 (.182) from the field while the Great Danes were 10-for-17 (.589).

America East Rookie of the Year Rodney Elliott wouldn’t go away quietly, scoring five-straight points to narrow UAlbany’s lead back to 15 with six minutes left in the half.

Sam Rowley responded with six points of his own. The junior was perfect on offense in the first half, going 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line for 12 points.

John Puk made his presence known in the low block to end the half, scoring four points to give UAlbany a 38-17 lead at the break.

At the half, Rowley led UAlbany with 12 points. The Purple & Gold out-scored the Retrievers 22-4 in the paint in the opening 20 minutes.

The Great Danes opened the second half in dramatic fashion, as DJ Evans found Gary Johnson on an alley-oop for Johnson’s first points of the game. UAlbany went 7-for-8 (.875) from the field in the opening six minutes of the second half.

With eight minutes left in the game, four Great Danes were in double figures, including Hooley (22), Rowley (15), Puk (11) and Evans (10).

Hooley hit a three with 6:10 left to give UAlbany a 76-43 lead and tally his 30th point. With the basket, he became the seventh Division I Great Dane to score 30 points in a single game. A UAlbany player has scored more than 30 points in a single game just eight times. The sophomore is also the first America East player to score 30 points in a tournament game in three years. Hooley played just 20 minutes of the game, having sat out most of the first half with foul trouble.

UMBC only dressed seven players for the America East Quarterfinal match-up against UAlbany.

Five UAlbany players ended the game in double figures, Hooley (30), Rowley (15), Puk (11), Anders Haas (11) and Evans (10). Haas and Hooley recorded career highs in points.
With the win, UAlbany will face off against familiar America East foe Vermont (22-9) in the league semifinals tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., at SEFCU Arena.

AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 8 - Quarterfinals

No. 1 Vermont 77, No. 8 New Hampshire 60
No. 4 UAlbany 86, No. 5 UMBC 56
No. 2 Stony Brook vs. No. 7 Maine, 6:00 p.m. - ESPN3

No. 3 Hartford vs. No. 6 Binghamton, 30 mins following - ESPN3


Sunday, March 9 - Semifinals

Semifinal #1, No. 1 Vermont vs. No. 4 UAlbany, 5:00 p.m. – ESPN3
Semifinal #2, 30 mins following - ESPN3


Saturday, March 15 - Title Game

Semifinal Winners - 11:30 a.m. - ESPN2

SU MEN'S LACROSSE BLOWS PAST ST. JOHN'S, 14-8

KENNESAW, Ga. – No. 11 Syracuse (3-2) snapped its two-game losing skid and improved to 3-0 in non-conference games this season with a 14-8 triumph against St. John’s (2-3) at the inaugural Cobb County Lacrosse Classic at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Junior Kevin Rice (Skaneateles, N.Y.) posted his second eight-point game of the season, scoring a career-high four goals and passing out four assists. Senior Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.) returned to the starting lineup and contributed five points, including a season-best four goals. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Donahue (Camillus, N.Y.) continued his sizzling start to the season, adding three goals on four shots. Senior goalie Dominic Lamolinara (Arnold, Md.) made 12 saves in three quarters of work, including 11 stops in the first half. Orange head coach John Desko said Lamolinara’s performance was essential to Syracuse building a commanding 11-3 halftime advantage. “He was seeing the ball really well,” Desko said. “I thought he was a big reason why we had the lead going in at halftime. He made some very good saves for us, not only from the outside, but in tight on some of their great attackman.” In addition to Lamolinara’s stellar play, the defenders in front of him were as active as they’ve been all season. Syracuse allowed just four goals in the first three quarters, and the Red Storm turned the ball over 17 times in the game. Orange defensemen directly forced 13 of those miscues, a season high. Redshirt sophomore defender Brandon Mullins (Coppell, Texas) led the charge, setting career highs for both ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (4). Senior Matt Harris (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) also recorded four caused turnovers to equal his personal best. With the score tied 2-2 midway through the first quarter, the Orange used a 10-1 run to break the game open and secure a commanding 12-3 advantage early in the third quarter. Rice had three goals and three assists in the stretch and Donahue bagged all three of his goals in the surge. The Red Storm’s Colin Keegan finally found the cage at the 9:37 mark of the third quarter, ending a 25:21 scoring drought for St. John’s to make the score 12-4. In the fourth quarter, Kieran McArdle scored an extra-man goal one minute into the period to close the gap to 12-5 before consecutive goals by Maltz pushed the SU lead back to nine, 14-5, with 7:21 to play. Three straight Red Storm goals, mainly against the Orange reserves, closed the game’s scoring. McArdle paced St. John’s with three goals and two assists. Keegan and Kevin Cernuto added two goals apiece. Red Storm goalie Joseph Danaher finished with seven saves in a losing effort. The Orange held the advantage in shots (40-35) and ground balls (30-24). SU also successfully killed five of the Red Storm’s six man-up opportunities. Syracuse returns to action Saturday, March 15 against Johns Hopkins. Faceoff is slated for 12 p.m. at Homewood Field in Baltimore. The game will be televised live on ESPNU. Game Notes: Sophomore Ryan Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) earned his first career start on close defense before Harris moved down low and played the majority of the game there … Junior Nicky Galasso (West Islip, N.Y.) scored two goals in the first half. They were his first goals in an Orange uniform after transferring to Syracuse from North Carolina prior to the 2013 season … Freshman Nick Weston (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) was credited with his first career assist in the fourth quarter … With the victory, Syracuse improved to 8-0 all-time against St. John’s and 3-0 all-time in games played in the state of Georgia.

Georgia plates four in fourth to overtake baseball 6-2

ATHENS, Ga. - Host Georgia scored four runs in the fourth inning to erase a 2-1 Binghamton lead and the Bulldogs (4-6) went on to a 6-2 win over the Bearcats (3-6) Saturday afternoon at Foley Field. The teams will wrap up their three-game series with a game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

For the fifth time in nine games, BU scored in its first at-bat, stringing together three straight two-out hits to jump ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Senior second baseman Daniel Nevares reached on an infield single and went to third on a double to center field by junior left fielder Jake Thomas.
Sophomore DH Reed Gamache followed with an RBI single to center that plated Nevares. Thomas, however, was thrown out trying to score on the play.

Sophomore Jake Crytsworked out of a jam in the Georgia first when he gave up a leadoff double and a walk but stranded runners on first and third thanks to a strikeout and fly out. But the Bulldogs tied it in the second inning with two singles and a squeeze bunt.

In the top of the fourth, BU took a 2-1 lead when Gamache was hit by pitch with one out and he came around to score on an RBI double to left by junior first baseman Brian Ruby.

Georgia put four on the board in their half of the fourth, however. A walk-hit batter sequence to start the frame was costly. A bunt single, RBI groundout and two-run single gave the hosts a 5-2 lead. After BU stranded two runners in the fifth, the Bulldogs added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a double, bunt single and infield error.

Nevares went 3-for-4 and senior center fielder Bill Bereszniewiczraised his team-best batting average to .371 with two hits.

Cryts (L 1-1) went 4.0 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked a pair. Freshman Jextin Pugh worked 3.1 innings and only allowed one run. Freshman Matt Pennell recorded the final two outs in his collegiate debut. He struck out one. 
Georgia held a 13-9 advantage in hits.

On Sunday, freshman Casey Wenzel (0-0, 0.00) will make his first collegiate start. He tossed three scoreless innings in his first appearance as a Bearcat last weekend at James Madison.

Men’s Basketball Falls 73-68 at Stony Brook, Earns No. 4 Seed in America East Tournament

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – University at Albany men’s basketball (15-14, 9-7 AE) fell 73-68 at Stony Brook (21-9, 13-3 AE) on Sunday afternoon, earning the No. 4 seed for the America East Tournament next weekend.

“It was a good basketball game, and we just missed a few opportunities,” said head coach Will Brown. “Their seniors made some good plays down the stretch, and when you’re playing the second-place team at their place you can’t call it a bad loss.”

The Great Danes opened the game hot from the field, going 4-for-5 for an early 11-2 lead. Stony Brook was kept to a slower pace and failed to score for the first two minutes of the game.

Both teams went deep into the shot clock with each possession as the first half went on. Stony Brook came back to go 3-for-5 from the field after starting 1-for-3 in the first five minutes. The Seawolves narrowed the lead, but threes from Dallas Ennema and DJ Evans kept Stony Brook from going on a significant scoring run.

UAlbany began slowing down on offense, hitting a three-minute scoring drought in addition to a 1-for-10 clip from the field mid-way through the half.

Sam Rowley led the Purple & Gold at the half with eight points.

Peter Hooley kicked off the second half with three of his 13 second-half points just 20 seconds in. After Rowley made a lay-up and converted on the and-one, UAlbany took back the lead, 37-35.

The Great Danes went 6-for-10 in the first six minutes of the second half to open up an eight-point lead. Will Brown’s squad extended its lead to as many as 10 with four made free throws from Gary Johnson.
UAlbany put the Seawolves in the bonus with 10:13 left in the second half, but Stony Brook’s Jameel Warney picked up his fourth foul with 8:09 left. Upon Warney’s exit, Stony Brook went on a 16-0 run while UAlbany went scoreless for five minutes.

The Seawolves went 9-for-10 in the final eight minutes of the game, and took a nine-point lead with 1:32 left, 66-57. Evans and Hooley hit a pair of threes to narrow the margin to five. Hooley hit two free throws and another three-pointer to bring UAlbany within three, but the Seawolves made their free throws down the stretch.
Evans, Hooley and Rowley scored 15 points apiece. Johnson also finished in double figures with 11 points. Johnson and Rowley led UAlbany with eight boards, marking a new career high for Johnson.

THE AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT
The Great Danes will face UMBC in the America East Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 8 at approximately 2:30 p.m., in the 4-5 match-up. Will Brown’s squad is the No. 4 seed for the fourth consecutive year after finishing 9-7 in league play for the fourth-straight season.

Saturday, March 8 - Quarterfinals
No. 1 Vermont vs.  No. 8 New Hampshire, 12:00 p.m. - ESPN3
No. 4 Albany vs. No. 5 UMBC, 30 mins following. - ESPN3
No. 2 Stony Brook vs. No. 7 Maine, 6:00 p.m. - ESPN3
No. 3 Hartford vs. No. 6 Binghamton, 30 mins following - ESPN3

Sunday, March 9 - Semifinals
Semifinal #1, 5:00 p.m. - ESPN3
Semifinal #2, 30 mins following - ESPN3

Saturday, March 15 - Title Game
Semifinal Winners - 11:30 a.m. - ESPN2

Baseball Outslugged By Army, 16-1

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – In the University at Albany baseball team’s final game in the Campbell Classic on Sunday, the Great Danes suffered a 16-1 defeat to Army, falling to 1-6 on the season. The Black Knights (5-4) pounded out 20 hits and used a 10-run sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Freshman Stephen Woods (0-1) took the loss, throwing four and a third innings, allowing five hits, four runs (three earned), three walks, while striking out three. Sophomore Evan Harasta led the Great Danes’ offense, going 3-for-4 at the plate, while freshman Garret Longhurst went 2-for-4. Taking the initial lead in the top of the second, Army held the advantage the remainder of the game. The Black Knights strung together four hits to take a 2-0 lead. UAlbany responded in the bottom of the inning, as D.J. Hoagboon and Matt Hinchy knocked back-to-back singles to start things off. Both moved into scoring position on a passed ball, and Crag Lepre brought in Hoagboon with an RBI groundout, cutting the deficit to one. However, in the fifth, Army stretched the margin, scoring four runs on four hits and an error. With one out and one on, Andrew Jaurique relieved Woods on the mound. Army’s first batter after the change, Patrick Mescher, belted a two-run home run over the left field wall. The Black Knights scored one more unearned run in the inning before the Danes ended the side. In the sixth, Army’s potent offense struck again, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits. Andrew Veiga and Stephen Carey were both tagged for five runs and five hits apiece on the hill. Sophomore closer Ryan Stinar tossed the final three scoreless innings for UAlbany, limiting Army to just two hits, while striking out two. Gunnar Carroll (1-0) earned the win for Army, allowing one unearned run and six hits in six innings of work. Brock Davidson hurled the last three frames, picking up his first save of the season. Weather permitting, UAlbany will travel to play a four-game series at NYIT March 8-9th.

Extra 40% off all sale items at the NASCAR.com SuperStore

Snow, Snow, Go Away! I Want Racecars Today!

West Lebanon, NY:  Well it’s March… and there is still snow, everywhere!  But the good news is that it will only get better from here.  With teams getting their hot rods together, and firing their motors for the first time this year, will only help ‘warm’ up the weather for the opening of the mighty high banks in just a few short weeks .

 

Lebanon Valley Speedway’s ½ mile dirt oval, known as the ‘Valley of Speed’, has set a date of Saturday April 5^th, 2014 as Test and Tune Night for all competitors or local drivers looking to blow the dust off their hot rods for the 2014 season. 

 

All cars are welcome to come out and take their turns around these famed high banks whether you’re a regular racer, or regular division or car type that runs at the Valley of Speed, it doesn’t matter – run whatcha brung!

 

Spectators are FREE to watch from the Grandstands where there ain’t a bad seat in the house, or go pitside where admission is a flat $15 for everyone. 

 

Then, of course it Opening Day, Saturday April 12^th, the 62^nd Season Opener sponsored by L&M Motors and Funplex Funpark!

 

And since its still quiet at the speedway, now is also a great time to buy your 2014 Season Pass!  Prices and availability are now posted on our website at www.LebanonValley.com and just click on “Speedway” for more information!

 

And lastly, as a reminder, the 2013 Points Championship Banquets are scheduled for March 21^st and 22^nd at the legendary ‘Club House at Lebanon Valley’.  For more information, contact the LVAR Main Offices during normal business hours at (518) 794-9606 or (518) 794-9965.

Miles Thompson Earns America East Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After earning an eight-goal performance against Harvard, Miles Thompson has been named the America East Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

This is Thompson’s second America East Player of the Week honor in his UAlbany career.  It is the first for the team this season.

Thompson earned eight goals against Harvard, his second-highest goal-scoring game in his collegiate career.  He added an assist to make it nine points. His nine points helped UAlbany earn its first win of the season on Saturday, a 14-8 victory over Harvard.

Currently, the senior attackman leads the America East in goals and points per game with 4.33 and 6.00 per game respectively.  His eight-goal game is the highest single game total for an America East player so far this season.

Thompson and the Great Danes will next head to UMass for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday.

Extra 40% off sale items at NBAStore.com