Baseball Swept In Stony Brook Series; Nethaway Ties Doubles Record

ALBANY, N.Y. – In Sunday’s doubleheader, the University at Albany baseball team succumbed to a 12-7 and a 13-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves. With the series sweep, Stony Brook improved to 25-14 overall and 11-3 in America East play, while the Great Danes fell to 7-26 on the season and 4-14 in conference. In game one, both teams recorded double-figure hits, as the Seawolves knocked 12 and UAlbany ripped 10, including five doubles. Junior Alex Lushkevich led the Dane with two hits and three runs batted in, while senior Brian Bullard (2-for-4) and junior Craig Lepre (2-for-5) also had multiple hits. In addition, senior Josh Nethaway lined his 51st career double in the game, tying the all-time program record. On the mound, UAlbany used six arms with sophomore Ryan Stinar throwing the first 3.1 frames. Junior Matt Gallup (1-4) took the loss out of the pen, allowing the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Stony Brook took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a fielding error and Kevin Krause’s two-run home run over the left field wall. The Seawolves scored three more runs in the fourth, using three walks, a fielder’s choice, and Robert Chavarria’s RBI single. However, UAlbany came storming back in the bottom of the frame, batting around the order to take a 6-5 lead. Nethaway sparked the inning with a leadoff two-bagger to left-center, and D.J. Hoagboon and Lepre followed with back-to-back singles to the right side, scoring one. The Danes loaded the bases on Charlie Peltz’s misplayed sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Ryley MacEachern, and Lushkevich brought everybody home with his double to left field. Still with just one out, Jeff VonMoser tied the score with a double down the left field line, and also scored the go-ahead run after back-to-back walks and Nethaway’s RBI fielder’s choice. Stony Brook, however, got the bats going again and scored six straight runs of their own, plating two in the sixth on three singles and a walk, and four in the seventh on four singles and three walks. In the ninth, the Seawolves scored one more, but UAlbany got that one back in the bottom of the inning, as Bullard doubled to left and scored onEvan Harasta’s single up the middle. Reliver Tim Knesnik (3-1) earned the win, throwing the final 5.2 innings, allowing one run and three hits, while striking out five. In the nightcap, Stony Brook accelerated to an 8-0 advantage, scoring four in the second, three in the third, and one in the fifth. UAlbany got on the board in the fourth when Bullard belted a leadoff home run, marking the 10th of his career. However, Stony Brook answered back with five runs to take a 13-1 advantage. Krause highlighted the inning with his second two-run home run of the day. The Great Danes answered, scoring one run in the bottom of the fifth, as Richard Bacon drew a leadoff walk, Adam Mund doubled to center, and VonMoser knocked a sacrifice fly to centerfield, plating Bacon. That would mark the last run in the seven-inning affair. On the mound, starter Stephen Woods (1-5) took the loss, throwing 2.1 innings, allowing seven runs on three hits and four walks. Terry Dugdale,J.T. Genovese, and Daniel Castro also saw time out of the pen. Stony Brook’s Tyler Honahan earned the complete-game win, allowing two runs and four hits, while striking out eight. Up next, the Great Danes hit the road for nine straight games, starting with six consecutive non-conference contests. UAlbany will travel to Central Connecticut State Tuesday before playing a four-game series at NJIT over the weekend.

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.