Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
Men’s Basketball
Sophomore guard Antione Johnson scored 14 of his career-high 33 points in overtime to lead Albany past Lehigh, 81-74, on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Recreation and Convocation Center.

Johnson, who netted his team’s opening 13 points of the extra period, hit a 19-foot jumper and converted a three-point play when he was fouled on a slam dunk in transition to give Albany (6-20) the lead for good at 66-61.

Will Brand, a 6-foot-5 junior who had 11 points, made all six of his free throws in the final 32 seconds, as the Great Danes ended a three-game losing streak.

Lehigh (12-13) rallied from a six-point deficit in regulation. Sophomore Matt Logie, who had 14 of his 24 points in the second half, connected on back-to-back three-point field goals to draw his club even at 61 apiece. The Mountain Hawks, who had won four of their previous six games, missed two potential game-winning shots in last 10 seconds.

“The kids deserved to win,” said UAlbany coach Scott Beeten. “They did the little things that are important when the margin of error is small. Antione’s play was special. The experience he has gained this year has made him so much better.”

The Great Danes, who trailed by as much as 10 points in the first half, rallied to take their first lead with 17:04 left in regulation. Freshman E.J. Gallup, who scored 13, buried a 3-pointer for a 36-33 advantage. Lehigh’s Scott Taylor, who had 14 of his 17 points after halftime, later regained the lead, at 44-43, when he made a turnaround shot in the lane.

Sam Hopes, one of five UAlbany players in double figures with 10 points, put his team back on top, 47-46, with a jumper in the lane. The Great Danes, who forced Lehigh into a season-high 36 turnovers, would eventually push out to a 61-55 margin on another three-pointer by Gallup.

“We have been frivolous and careless all year long,” commented Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana. “It caught up with us today. Albany worked, scrapped, and out-hustled us.”

USAT&F New England Championships
Aggrey Morris sprinted 48.6 seconds on his 400-meter dash leg as UAlbany’s distance medley relay finished first at the USAT&F New England Indoor Championships on Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Boston University Armory. The Great Danes qualified for the IC4A championships on March 2-4.

Jamie Rodriguez, Adam Rice, and Ike Cherry were also members of the distance medley unit, a relay with legs of 400, 800, 1,200 and 1,600 meters.

The UAlbany women’s distance medley relay was also first across the finish line in a school-record time of 12:20.00. The old mark of 12:23.58 was established at the 1999 ECAC championships. Relay members were Jessica Burger, Diane Matthews, Megan Roeder, and Jessica Walton.

Track & Field
Freshman Jessica Walton won the 1,000-meter run with a school-record effort and Alix Rodriques broke school marks in two events to highlight UAlbany’s performance at the Fordham/St. John’s Invitational on Feb. 9 in the New York City Armory. The Great Danes were second among 15 teams in both the men’s and women’s standings.

Walton shattered a UAlbany standard in the 1,000 with a time of 2:54.99 and qualified for the ECAC championships in March. She broke a mark set by Erica Viger, who went 3:02.07 in this same meet last year.

Jessica Burger and Nierria Jones also picked up first-place finishes. Burger ran the 500-meter dash in 1:17.10, while Jones leaped 36-02.25 in the triple jump. Seidah Abu-Bakir took first in the 55-high hurdles (8.60), and was fourth in the high jump.

In the men’s competition, Rodriques was second in both the 55- and 200-meter dashes to St. Joseph’s James Scott. However, Rodriques qualified for the IC4A championships next month in both events. His times of 6.38 seconds in the 55-dash and 22.11 in the 200 erased UAlbany records. Adam Rice set another UA mark with an IC4A-qualifying time of 2:28.94 in the 1,000.

Three Great Danes won individual events. Jamie Rodriguez went 8:30.72 to take first place in the 3,000. Paul Roche and Marlon Monroe were victorious in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.

Women’s Basketball
Junior center Jill George totaled 17 points and eight rebounds, as Stony Brook posted a 56-54 victory over Albany on Saturday, Feb. 17, at USB Sports Complex.

Stony Brook (16-10) avenged a 24-point loss to Albany (5-21) earlier this season on Jan. 13. The Seawolves, who are 13-1 at home this season, used an 8-2 run early in the second half to grab a 45-39 lead. Theresa LoParrino, who had 16 points, hit a three-pointer to end that spurt.

The Great Danes, who had won the last four meetings between these programs, pulled within 45-44 on a 3-point shot by Marie Connors, who had 11 points and matched a career-best with 12 rebounds.

However, Stony Brook pulled away again, and LoParrino’s jumper gave her club a 52-46 cushion with 3:01 remaining. Albany sliced the deficit to one basket three times in the stretch. Cara Caffell split a pair of free throws to close the gap to 54-52 with 17 seconds left. But LoParrino sank two foul shots on her team’s next possession, and her club was able to run out the clock over the final six seconds.

“The difference was that we could not make any easy layups or free throws,” said Albany coach Mari Warner, whose team dropped its seventh straight. Albany’s Liz Tucker led all scorers with 18 points, while freshman guard Kathryn Hemlock added 12.

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