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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Albany coach Scott Hicks said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim did him a huge favor by agreeing to play his Great Danes. Some favor.
Damone Brown had 20 points and Preston Shumpert added 18 as Syracuse (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) breezed past Albany 86-46 Tuesday night.
It was the first meeting between the teams since Syracuse's
44-21 victory during the 1935-36 season, when Albany was known as
the New York State Teachers College.
Actually, despite the lopsided score, it was a nice gesture by
Boeheim. Albany (2-6) is playing its first season at the Division I
level, so playing a national power is a good deal, no matter the
score.
"This was still a good game for us," said Hicks, in his third
season as coach at Albany. "We're a brand new Division I team.
It's great exposure for our program. It gives us some recognition
out there nationally, and that's something our program is going to
need."
As expected, the game eventually turned into a rout, but not before the Great Danes earned a little respect.
The Orangemen (7-0) never trailed and jumped to an early lead
behind Brown and Shumpert, who combined to score Syracuse's first
13 points, 10 of them in a row as Albany struggled with five
turnovers and managed just two shots in the first four minutes.
A basket by Brown from the left corner and a 3-pointer by Shumpert put Syracuse ahead 22-8 with 13:38 left.
But the Great Danes fought hard to stay in the game. They hit 5 of their first eight 3-pointers and 10 of their first 16 shots.
Seven straight points by Dave Schloss, in his first game back
since breaking a finger on his left hand, and five points from Sam
Hopes prevented the Orangemen from really running away. Syracuse
led 39-27 at halftime.
"We played pretty well in the first half. I was very happy to
only be trailing by 12 points at halftime," said Hicks, a former
assistant under Boeheim. "I think it took us about six or seven
minutes to settle down."
The Orangemen turned up the pressure in the second half,
outscoring Albany 33-4 at one point while holding the Great Danes
to just 20 percent shooting in the period.
"I really didn't know we were on a run," said Brown, who also
had eight assists. "I think we were just out there playing
basketball and trying to work on parts of our game."
"The pressure up top made them hurry a little," added Shumpert, who had a career-high seven steals. "They kind of threw it up without looking sometimes, and I just stepped up and took it."
The Great Danes failed to score for almost five minutes and
committed 12 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the period.
"We had a lot of confidence coming out at halftime," said
Matthew Haggarty, who had eight points and six assists for the
Great Danes. "We just started a little bit slow, and they started
real fast, and we just never caught up."
Todd Cetnar led the Great Danes with 13 points. Forward Will
Brand had a tough night, failing to score and getting just two
rebounds. He was averaging 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
"The kids are very disappointed," Hicks said. "They felt they
played well in the first half, they had their heads high. In the
second half, it just got away from us. They wanted to come in and
play two good halves and play competitive basketball. The first
half was, but the second wasn't."
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ALSO SEE
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