ALBANY - UAlbany didn't play well Monday night.

They were still in the game and they had a chance to win (albeit, not really in the last few minutes), but coach Will Brown said they're not close to pushing the panic button.

I'm not sure if they should be pressing the panic button, but what I saw was a team that didn't look like it was trying to win in the final couple minutes.

Granted they were down big, but it just seemed like the last minute or two just ran off and the Great Danes didn't even attempt and three's or things you'd normally see a team do when they're trying to catch up.

On the injury front, sophomore Mike Black won't travel to Atlanta for Wednesday's game.

Redshirt freshman John Puk, who was severely limited and fouled out in 13 minutes, also may not travel (I tweeted he probably wouldn't. On second thought, I think he will).

When Brown was asked, this was his response.

"I hope so," Brown said. "If I have to carry the bucket of ice and hold his foot in it, I'll do that. I have to talk to our training staff. He was not comfortable out there."

Puk is dealing with Achilles tendonitis and hasn't fully practiced in six or seven days. Brown was told Monday that Puk's injury won't get better unless he rests, which is a luxury the team doesn't have right now.

"He's a guy that really helps us defensively," Brown said of Puk. "He did a good job against Cornell. He takes up space. He can really move. He gets off the ground. He didn't have any quickness and explosiveness today at all."

If Puk can't travel or can't play, that means UAlbany is down two of what Brown called "his best five players."

Jeff Couch - The Record

UAlbany has lost their first two games of this season and now the program has lost 14 of their last 15 contests, so confidence is something that probably isn't strong, if there at all.

"They're young, they're fragile," Brown said. "I have to be careful too, how I relay my message as well. I'm pretty intense and inpatient and I got a short fuse."

One postitive note for UAlbany came from American coach Jeff Jones.

"When you consider that a vast majority of those guys are freshmen and sophomores, they have a chance to really get better," Jones said. "If you looked at us a year ago, we were kind of in the same boat."

Now, the Eagles finished 11-20 last season, but they are the Patriot League favorites this year (and they went to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 & 2009).

One thing different though. Leading scorer Vlad Moldoveanu was sitting out, after transferring from George Mason.

Here is Brown talking about the loss.

ALBANY - The Great Danes didn't look great on this night.

It seemed to be a combination of Mike Black's absence and just a stale night shooting that did in UAlbany on Monday.

Tim Ambrose finished with a game-high 13 points, but 11 of them came in the first half.

Logan Aronhalt added 11 for the Great Danes (0-2).

The Eagles (2-0) got 11 points from Vlad Moldoveanu and 10 apiece from Troy Brewer and Stephen Lumpkins.

ALBANY - UAlbany doesn't exactly have the same energy that they had Friday against Cornell.

The Great Danes came out shooting just 1-for-10 from the field, but actually trailed just 8-4.

They started making shots and the Patriot League favorite Eagles made some more.

UAlbany finished the half 9-for-26 (34.6%), led by Tim Ambrose, who scored 11 points off the bench.

American was paced by Vlad Moldoveanu, who scored seven points. The Eagles also hit four 3-pointers.

I don't usually get on the refs (if I'm not watching sports at home that is), but there have been some awfully strange calls, including the one where the ref called the ball out off Logan Aronhalt (right in front of us and legendary UAlbany coach Doc Sauers, who evaluates the referees). I could clearly see the ball went off the American player (I assume Doc did too).

The ref then made Aronhalt go get the ball (injury to insult, I guess).

Both local teams are in action on Monday (today).

Both, Siena and UAlbany are still in search of their first victory.

Here is my preview on Siena's trip to Minnesota.

UAlbany will be looking to beat American at home, without the services of sophomore point guard Mike Black, who sprained his ankle against Cornell.

Here are some gameday links to check out

Siena

Star-Tribune - Gophers' menu: Force the issue, feast on free throws

Star-Tribune - Gophers-Siena game preview

Star-Tribune - Gold in the Barn blog

Star-Tribune - U's tower of power Sampson is huge in opener

UAlbany

Washington Post - American University basketball player Stephen Lumpkins is chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates

Washington Post - After slow start, American pulls away from St. Francis in opener

In a sign of the times, University at Albany men's basketball coach Will Brown has taken to using his twitter account to reach Great Danes basketball fans.

Brown is tweeting one game of the upcoming 2010-11 season every day for his followers on twitter.

So far, this is what it looked like.

Nov. 12 Cornell (Season Opener/Home Opener)
Nov. 15 American
Nov. 17 at GTech

The Great Danes will be opening the season with two home games. Then, UAlbany will travel to Atlanta to take on former Siena coach Paul Hewitt and the Yellow Jackets.

You can follow Brown at www.twitter.com/UAHOOPSWB

While I'm not in Washington, D.C., I'm listening to the game and will be sharing some of my thought here on my "night off."

UAlbany players and coach Will Brown said that when senior point guard Mike Johnson got back into the lineup things would be different as so far, it seems they were right.

Johnson scored the first five UAlbany points and the Great Danes hold a 14-10 lead.

Also, there are no live stats for the game, so I'll update the score as I go here.

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The Eagles now lead 29-20 as they have controlled the middle part of this half.

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The Great Danes made a nice little run there to cut the lead, but American still leads 31-27.

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Halftime. 33-27 American.

UAlbany needs to pick up the play and perform like they did in the first five or six minutes or they will staring at 0-3.

*****

Leading scorers - American, Stephen Lumpkins, 8 points. UAlbany - Mike Johnson, 7 points. (Danes committed just five turnovers).

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Two turnovers to start the half for the Great Danes. McRae hits a three to cut the American lead to five, but the Eagles keep scoring and now lead 41-34.

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Scotty McRae heating up. The senior has 12 and UAlbany trails just 41-39.

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Tied at 41-41 with 11:47 to go.

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47-43 UAlbany with 6:29 to play.

McRae gave the Danes their first lead in a long time and has a career-high 14 points.

Junior Tim Ambrose put UAlbany back up and he has 10 points.

*****

49-47 UAlbany

American has just two field goals in more than the last 10 minutes, but still the game up for grabs.

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50-49 American. Daniel Munoz scores and was fouled - hits the free throw to give the Eagles a 1-point lead with 2:23 to go.

51-50 UAlbany as Ambrose follows a McRae miss with a hoop.

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51-50 UAlbany. 28 seconds to go - American turn the ball over.

11 seconds to go.....

*****

51-50 UAlbany wins. Ambrose misses the front end of a 1 + 1 with 10 seconds remaining, American rebounds, but Munoz rims out at the buzzer.

Here are some things that Brown said in the postgame interview.

"switch to matchup zone was huge"
defense looked better at the end of the game

"11 turnovers is progress"
team played better with Johnson in the lineup

"get (Fran) Urli back on Friday"
Brown keeps saying Urli has played well in the preseason

"found a way to win"
big to get a win on the road and the first win of the season

High Scorers: AU - Lumpkins 12 points. UA - McRae 14 career-high points (7 rebounds).