Albany State men roll to easy win over Point

ALBANY — It was a “feel-good” victory, one of those kind a team needs before beginning a grueling stretch of the season.

While it may not have been perfect by head coach Michael Moore’s standards, it was an impressive showing Saturday by the Albany State men’s basketball team. In front of a sparse crowd, the Rams rolled to a 96-82 victory over Point University at the HPER Gymnasium.

After falling short Tuesday night against Georgia College, Albany State (2-3) pulled away at the end of the first half and pushed the proverbial gas pedal in the second half.

The Skyhawks had no answer for former Westover High standout Michael Green, who finished with 28 points and drilled six treys. Ironically, it was a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers from Green midway through the first half that helped the Rams gradually begin to pull away.

When the public address announcer announced late that Green had 24 points, the sophomore continued to push himself.

“It was surprising, but I told myself that I had to aggressive toward the end of the game,” Green said. “It was a big game for us especially coming off a loss. We knew everybody had been eating good and it was important for us to see where we were at.”

About the only drama was seeing if the Rams could score 100 points in a game for the first time this season.

“Oh yeah, you always want to be able to do that,” Green said. “But it was important for everybody to get in the game and later in the season, step up and make some big-time shots for us.”

The Rams shot a blistering 62 percent (21 of 34) from the floor in the first half to build a 52-41 advantage at halftime. They finished shooting 55 percent (36 of 66) in the game, while they shot 44 percent (10 of 23) from behind the 3-point arc.

But something Moore made sure to point out was the lack of second-chance points as Point finished with just six.

“We did a good job crashing the boards,” he said. “And when we looked at film, teams weren’t beating us as much on the first shot as much as they were on second-chance baskets.”

Brandon Hudson finished with 14 points, while Khaliq Hughes added 13. Ironically, it was Hughes who got the offense rolling in the opening moments with a thunderous dunk. Virgil Fields and Randy McClure scored eight points apiece.

All 12 members of the ASU team played and all but two scored.

Moore said his scouting report stated that Point was a good 3-point shooting team. The Skyhawks shot 33 percent (7 of 21) from 3-point range.

Albany State will play the final game of a four-game homestand on Thursday when they entertain Lemoyne-Owen at 7:30 p.m.