Clutch defense helps Albany State defeat Concordia

ALBANY — The runnin’ gunnin’ Rams of Albany State put on a show for the home crowd Thursday night as they defeated Concordia 78-74 in their second exhibition game of the season at the HPER Gym.

Clutch defense down the stretch put the game away for the Rams, who played from behind the entire second half. After tying the game at 68 with 2:35 left, they’d close the game on a 10-6 run. They were able to force three consecutive turnovers with 1:30 left and convert them into points to reclaim the lead and ice the game.

“We went into our trap game and made them play faster than what they were accustomed to,” head coach Michael Moore said. “You can tell they were executing their halfcourt spread offense, they had five out, pass and cut, pass and cut and then screen. So they were executing their halfcourt offense and me and the assistant coach talked about needing to speed them up and get them out of their comfort zone, and in that 90 second, span that’s what we did.”

The first half was filled with highlights from the Rams, including a steal by Jordan Floyd which led to an off-the-glass alley-oop finished by Khaliq Hughes. The Rams quickly built an early 15-8 lead, which later turned into a 23-12 lead after Dominique Pollard streaked down the lane for a lay-up with 10:32 left.

From there, Concordia got hot and cut the lead to five, then eventually tied the game at 38 after a trey from Kendrick Atwood. They went into the halftime break with a 39-36 lead.

Moore said he felt his scorers just weren’t on tonight, though they did enough to get the win.

“We got stagnant and we got complacent with the big lead,” he said. “My scorers didn’t score tonight. It was one of those nights and I’m glad we got it out the way in exhibition play… but it was a gutsy, gritty, grind-it-out win and I’ll take it.”

Earl Farnum finished with a team-high 20 points, followed by Hughes with 13, Lance Dixon with 11 and Michael Green with 10.

Moore said that playing a very physical All-Army team earlier this week helped prepare them for the style of play they saw Thursday night and helped them with their execution down the stretch.

He added that the offense dictated the tempo in the win against the All-Army team, while the defense dictated the tempo against Concordia. He’s pleased with versatility he’s seen thus far in the preseason and hopes it carries over into their season opener against Georgia College on Nov. 20.