If the UAlbany Great Danes wanted a chance to win their season opener at Penn State they had to do these things: limit the offensive rebounding for the Nittany Lions, limit the scoring in transition for the Nittany Lions, and get a fair share of offensive production from Joe Cremo and David Nichols.
Check, check, and check.
Penn State was limited to just six offensive rebounds, compared to 12 for the Great Danes. The Nittany Lions also were able to score only ten points in transition; another number the Danes would double. And Cremo scored a game-high 22, Nichols scored a career-high 19, and Dallas Ennema joined the party with 20 points of his own, to fuel the Danes to a 87-81 win over the Nittany Lions.
“We had a plan that we felt would be effective for us,” Head Coach Will Brown said postgame. “I thought in the first half, we executed it beautifully. We knew Penn State was going to make a run, they did a good job of making plays, but I’m just proud that we weathered the storm late in the game and had some guys step up and play really well.”
Cremo would notch his first career double-double in his first career start, bringing down a career-high 10 rebounds. Nichols would stand out, going 7-of-15 from the field and five-of-six from the line after an offseason he spent seriously improving. Ennema would also tally his career best in points, going 6-of-8 from the field including 4-of-6 from three in just 23 minutes of action.
The Danes shot 49.2% from the field, 50.0% from three, and 80.0% from the free throw line in the game.
“It is a good feeling and good team win, we stayed focused and weathered their run,” said Nichols postgame. “It all started with practice with coaches to executing on gameday.”
UAlbany would grab the lead with 12:54 in the first half and quickly extended it to 8 off an 8-0 run and never looked back after, pushing their lead to as much as 19 in the final 30 seconds of the opening 20 minutes before taking a 16-point lead into the break.
After an impressive defensive showing in the first half that held the Nittany Lions to only 33.3% shooting in the first half and 2-for-7 from three, the second half would be a much different story for the hosts offense that would allow that would allow themselves an opportunity so steal the win from the Danes.
With UAlbany leading by 13 with 6:06 remaining, Penn State would go on a 15-6 run to bring it to a 78-74 Danes lead with 2:20 to go.
But, as the expression goes, big players make big plays.
With his team struggling to get a bucket to drop and the momentum obviously shifting towards the home team side, Cremo hit a runner off the right side to push the lead back up to six with just over a minute on the clock.
A turnover and missed three would cut Penn State’s opportunities slim, as it took them 40 seconds respond and make it a four-point game with 22 seconds left.
Nichols would be fouled off the ensuing rebound and hit the subsequent free throws, but a bad foul by Ennema would allow Shep Garner to get three free throws, which he would make all of, to cut the lead to three with 17 seconds left.
Marqueese Grayson would be the next man to be fouled and hit arguably the biggest free throws of the game, and after a Garner missed three Ennema would sink one of two to make it a six point game with only eight seconds left.
Mike Watkins would get the giveaway dunk on the possession, but Cremo would seal the deal with a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds left to finish the Nittany Lions off and provide one of the biggest wins in program history.
The win would be the first ever for UAlbany against a Big Ten opponent, and the program’s first win over a Power Five conference foe since 2012, when the Danes defeated Washington. The Danes will practice at Penn State Saturday before flying to Cincinnati where they will practice on Sunday before facing the Bearcats on Monday evening in The Queen City.
“It is a good start for sure, but as Coach says, we cannot be satisfied,” said Cremo. “Definitely a great road win for us, especially with [our] new guys.”
