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The University at Albany men's basketball team won their home opener Tuesday night, against New
Jersey Institute of Technology.

Here is the game story, following a 71-65 victory for the Great Danes that bumped them to 2-0 overall, with a game at Quinnipiac on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Siena dropped to 0-2, with a 77-66 loss at Vermont. Here is a link to the Siena write up and postgame video from coach Jimmy Patsos.

Also, Brien Bouyea checks in with the RPI women's basketball team.

Columnist Steve Amedio writes about Marist women's coach Brian Giorgis, who brings his Red Foxes to the SEFCU Arena Thursday evening, to take on UAlbany. The two teams are ranked in the Top 20, in the College Insider Mid-Major poll, with Marist at No. 3 and UAlbany at No. 17. 

As noted below, former Maryland coach Gary Williams stopped by Siena practice on Tuesday.

Williams gave current Saints coach Jimmy Patsos his first coaching gig, two decades ago, as an assistant with the Terrapins.

Also in Wednesday's paper, columnist Steve Amedio tackles the issue of mascot names, taking us back to when Siena went from the Indians to the Saints.

The issue is of course in the news, as people call for the changing of the Washington football franchise's nickname.

J.S. Carras/The Record

The calendar just flipped to October, but we're already talking about college basketball season.

Both the University at Albany and Siena College men's basketball squads have kicked off practice in the past few days.

The Saints are trying to put last season's disappointments behind them and start fresh with new head coach Jimmy Patsos (left) and a slew of new players on the roster. Tuesday was also Patsos' 47th birthday.

Here is the link to a story from Wednesday's paper about the team kicking off practice and hoping to have some success.

I also checked in with the UAlbany team and this story appeared in Sunday's paper.

Our new columnist Steve Amedio also has a take from Wednesday's paper on Danes head coach Will Brown, who beings his 13th season leading UAlbany. Could he be the next Doc Sauers or Bob Ford and remain on Western Avenue until the end of his career?

J.S. Carras/The Record