Men’s Basketball Uses 24 Points Off the Bench to Down Yale 70-62
ALBANY, N.Y. – Luke Devlin and Dallas Ennema combined for 17 points off the bench to lead the University at Albany men’s basketball team (6-5) past Yale (5-6) 70-62 at SEFCU Arena on Friday night.
Both teams started slow in the first half, with Sam Rowley scoring four early points. Yale didn’t score until the 15:32 mark, going 0-for-7 to open the game. The Bulldogs went 7-for-31 (.226) in the first half and shot as low as 3-for-23 (.130).
The teams were within two points of each other for most of the half before a 3-pointer from Ennema opened up a nine-point lead with 7:05 remaining in the first session. The three marked Ennema’s first career points in his first appearance.
“I was just thinking that I wanted the opportunity and I was thankful to have it,” said Ennema. “I knew I had to capitalize on it. As the game moved on I got more comfortable.”
At the 3:45 mark in the first half, Yale had gone 2-for-2 from the free throw line, but just 3-for-23 from the field. The Bulldogs stayed in the game with eight offensive rebounds to earn more possessions.
At the end of the first half, eight UAlbany players had at least one basket. John Puk led the Great Danes with six points.
Despite a combined 10 fouls in the first half, the teams committed 32 fouls in the second half. Rowley picked up his fourth foul with 8:08 left after having no fouls in the first half. The Great Danes attempted their first free throw of the game with 9:02 left in the game. Puk went 2-for-2 from the line to give UAlbany a 12-point lead.
The Purple & Gold maintained a 7-10-point cushion for much of the second half before Yale began taking advantage at the free throw line. The Bulldogs made four-straight free throws in an 8-0 run to cut the UAlbany lead to four, 62-58 with one minute remaining. Puk, Devlin, DJ Evans and Peter Hooley put the game away from the charity stripe.
DJ Evans nearly finished with a double-double, 14 points and nine rebounds. Hooley and Puk both had 13 points apiece. Ennema had eight points, including two threes in his first career appearance.
The Great Danes held Yale’s leading scorer Justin Sears (17.3 ppg) to seven points and zero in the first half. Sears scored a career-high 31 points in Yale’s last game, a 76-74 loss at Providence.
UAlbany made at least four threes for the first time since a 66-55 win at NJIT on Dec. 1. The Purple & Gold went 4-for-11 from three, with Ennema going 2-for-3.
“Everyone was chipping in tonight,” said Evans. “Dallas [Ennema] came in and made some big shots. Luke [Devlin] has been handling injuries all year, but he came through big for us. I just wanted to be in the right place at the right time. It was important for us to win at home tonight.”
UAlbany continues its nonconference campaign at Drake on Dec. 23 at 8 p.m. ET.
