By Sofia Lamdichi | November 20, 2024
On Saturday, the University at Albany men’s basketball team defeated the Siena Saints 70-60 in a tight game, claiming the coveted Albany Cup title for the second consecutive year.
Forward Aaron Reddish (#2) placed a reverse layup into the basket. Reddish finished with seven points and two assists in Albany’s win against Siena.
Photo Credit: Liam Martin / The ASP
“[I’m] really proud of our team. I thought that was a great, great win and an unbelievable atmosphere,” said UAlbany head coach Dwayne Killings. “We showed that our program in the America East and Siena’s program in the MAAC can win a championship. Our guys stepped up. I thought we answered every piece of adversity. The energy in there was perfect and I’m hoping that now people see the product of play that we have.”
The game started off very tight with both teams playing with utmost physicality. The UAlbany men’s team put up a strong defensive front putting the Siena Saints’ offense at a standstill many times in the first half, ending 28-26 Great Danes.
However, the Saints played physical defense which made the Great Dane offensive front struggle to build up a large lead. This changed in the second half as the UAlbany offense found ways to break down the Saints defense. Their largest lead - 13 points - came towards the end of the second half with a strong team effort led by redshirt junior forward Justin Neely, who tallied 14 points in the second half alone.
With an aggressive performance Saturday night, Neely led the team in scoring and in rebounding. He ended the night with 21 points and obtained four offensive and four defensive rebounds.
“I’m blessed to be where I’m at now,” Neely said after the game. “We got a big win, you know, and it means a lot [to] the community and the University at Albany. I got my body back 100 percent where it needs to be to be able to come back and perform.”
Senior forward Kacper Klaczek and graduate student guard Byron Joshua also helped lead the second half push alongside Neely with eight points and nine points respectively, as well as strong rebounding efforts and a few steals between the two.
Behind Neely’s strong night, Klaczek finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Joshua finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and one steal.
As the stands were packed with fans who were quick to get to their feet during the game, Klaczek reflected on his first time experiencing the atmosphere that comes with playing UAlbany’s rivalry game at the Albany Cup.
“Everybody that was supporting us, [it] made a huge difference when it comes to giving [us] energy and making them miss free throws,” said Klaczek after the game.
“I think that was a huge element to our win. I really hope it is going to be like that every game,” Klaczek continued. “We stuck to our game plan, started moving the ball a little bit more, [and] played for each other. Eventually the game was awarded to us.”
The next three games played by the Great Danes will be on the island of Puerto Rico, for the Puerto Rico Clasico. Their next scheduled home game will be Dec. 4 when they face off against Columbia University.
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