UAlbany rolls past Sacred Heart 93-79

The UAlbany men's basketball team remained undefeated in Broadview Center, knocking off Sacred Heart 93-79 in their final home game of 2023

ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) -- The UAlbany men's basketball team remained undefeated in Broadview Center, knocking off Sacred Heart 93-79 in their final home game of 2023.

Key Stats

• Four Great Danes finished with double-digit points in the winning effort – Jonathan Beagle (19), Amar'e Marshall (18), Sebastian Thomas (17), and Marcus Jackson (15).
• Beagle finished with his fourth double-double of the season (19 pts and 11 rebs) and Jackson registered his first career double-double (15 pts and 10 rebs).
• UAlbany outrebounded Sacred Heart, 40-22.
• As a team, the Great Danes shot 53.4% from the field and 47.6% from behind the arc.
• Sacred Heart scored 54 of its 79 points in the paint.

Head Coach Dwayne Killings: "One of our team goals is to try to go undefeated at home. I thought our guys were a little frustrated after our last two losses. Sacred Heart is a good team.  They were picked to win their league and go to the NCAA Tournament out of the NEC. How we responded was important. We challenged our guys to be better on the glass, because we had such a hard time against Drexel. Today we outrebounded them 40-22 and had four guys in double-figures. I thought they really answered the call on the glass. I thought our offense was better tonight after getting a little disrupted against Drexel, but our defense was a little compromised.  But we'll take the win and try to build into a really good week."

How it Happened

• The Great Danes won the opening tip-off and quickly built a 10-4 lead, shooting 80% from the field and 66% from three.  UAlbany and Sacred Heart both started fast, combining to hit the first five shots taken from the field.
• Coming out of the first media timeout, a 7-1 scoring run gave UAlbany a 17-11 advantage with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Sebastian Thomas led UAlbany's scorers with six points while also recording two assists.  
• The Great Danes broke out to an 11-point lead, fueled by two steals by Amar'e Marshall and 66% shooting from behind the arc by Tyler Bertram.  
• The Pioneers' offense found momentum to close out the first half as they narrowed the UAlbany lead to 45-38. Jonathan Beagle led the Great Danes with 11 points followed by Thomas and Bertram with nine apiece. UAlbany shot 54.8% (17-31) from the field while going 7-11 from three. Sacred Heart shot 56.7% (17-30) while going 3-8 from behind the arc.
• Strong control of the offensive glass helped spark the Great Danes' offense as they grew their lead to 60-46 to start the second half. Beagle led the way with two offensive rebounds in the half with Marcus Jackson and Bertram also recording offensive boards.
• With 4:48 remaining in the contest, a successful trip to the charity stripe by Will Amica pushed the UAlbany lead to 18 points. The Great Danes finished the game shooting 21-26 from the line, including 17-19 in the second half.
• The Pioneers continued to battle, cutting into UAlbany's lead with an 8-1 scoring run to close within 82-71 with less than three minutes remaining in the match.
• The Great Danes rebuilt their advantage and won by 14 points, 93-79. Beagle finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jackson scored 15 and grabbed 10 boards.

Next: UAlbany visits South Florida on December 22.