University at Albany senior guard Mike Black fought through a stomach ache to leave Wagner feeling sick on Monday night.

Black scored a team-high 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half and 14 of which came in the game's final 11 minutes, as the Great Danes improved to 5-2, with a 66-63 victory over the Seahawks.

Here is a link to the game story. 

UAlbany now has the rest of the week off, until Saturday's big matchup against Siena.

J.S. Carras/The Record

The University at Albany men's basketball team defeated Wagner, 66-63, on Monday evening.

Below is the final play of the game, as Seahawks guard Eric Fanning attempts a game-tying 3-pointers.



Below is video of redshirt freshman Peter Hooley talking about the win.

Here is a link to today's story about UAlbany's game against Wagner. It's the Great Danes' first home game since the season-opener, on Nov. 9, against Duquesne.

It talks about Jacob Iati and his great start to the year. Iati is averaging double-digits and has been deadly from beyond the arc, shooting 51 percent for the year.

University at Albany senior point guard Mike Black talks about Monday's upcoming home game against Wagner.

While I was out of town this weekend, at a wedding, there was a lot going on for the first weekend of November.

The UAlbany football team got hammed, losing 30-0 to Wagner on Saturday. The loss makes it very difficult for the Great Danes to win the Northeast Conference and earn the bid to the NCAA tournament. Here is a link to the story from Brien Bouyea.

The loss should also knock UAlbany out of the Top 25. I just cast my ballot for The Sports Network poll and didn't include the Great Danes, who I previously had at No. 16.

This is a big week. College basketball starts with UAlbany and Siena playing home games on Friday evening. Also, Saturday is the big Union/RPI football game, for bragging rights and possession of the Dutchman's Shoes.

Make sure to check back here many times this week as there will be plenty of updates.

The University at Albany men’s basketball team will faceoff against another local face this evening.

This time, however, the Great Danes (7-7) didn’t have to bring that player to the game.

UAlbany plays their final non-conference game of the season tonight, taking on Wagner, on Staten Island, at 7 p.m. The game can be seen locally on Time Warner-3.

The Seahawks (4-7) have former Amsterdam player T.J. Czeski, who was The Record’s football Player of the Year, as a senior in 2005.

That year Czeski, who led the Rugged Rams to the Carrier Dome and was named Class A New York State Player of the Year.

Czeski hasn’t played that much for Wagner this season, seeing just 25 minutes of action.

In their last game, UAlbany gave Schenectady native Mark Lyons a ride on their team bus, after nearly all airplane flights were canceled, because of the snow storm.

Lyons repaid Great Danes coach Will Brown by knocking down six 3-pointers in an 88-64 Musketeers victory.

Wagner is coached by Dan Hurley, a long time high school coach in New Jersey.

Hurley built St. Benedict’s Prep into one of the nation’s top high school programs, leading the Grey Bees to a 223-21 record in nine seasons.

Former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley is an assistant for his brother on the Seahawks staff.

Bobby won back-to-back national championships with the Blue Devils in 1991 and ’92. Hurley was an All-American in 1993 and finished with an NCAA-record 1,076 career assists.

Wagner has lost four games in a row and five of their last six.

“They’re a tough matchup for us,” Brown said. “I expect that they’ll come out and press us for 40 minutes.”

Meanwhile, UAlbany has won six of their last eight games and has a chance today to finish over .500 for their non-conference slate.

“We have to regroup and get ready to matchup against Wagner,” said Brown.

Redshirt freshman Ralph Watts is listed as doubtful, after suffering a mild left ankle sprain against Xavier.

The University at Albany remained on the road on Wednesday, heading to Staten Island, to take on Wagner.

Here are some notes on the Seahawks (4-7), who will take on the Great Danes (7-7), tonight at 7 p.m.

• Former Duke guard Bobby Hurley (right) is an assistant for his brother, Dan, on the Wagner staff. Hurley had 1,076 career assists (most in NCAA history) for the Blue Devils from 1989-93. He was named first team All-American in 1993, went to the Final Four three times and helped lead Duke to consecutive national championships in 1991 and 1992.
  

• Redshirt senior T.J. Czeski, an Amsterdam native, has played just 25 minutes this season for the Seahawks. Czeski was named Defensive Player of the Year, as a football player, by The Record as a junior at Amsterdam High and as a senior, he was The Record's Player of the Year, in addition to being named Class A New York State Player of the Year.

• Junior guard Tyler Murray is the team's leading scorer. At 6-foot-5, he could present a matchup problem for UAlbany. Murray is from Toronto and earned numerous accolades for being one of the top players in the city. Murray competed in the Jordan Canadian All-Star game and was a member of the Nike Canadian Elite team in the summer of 2008.