The Men's Basketball Team suffered their second loss of the year on Saturday, when they fell to the Southern Maine Community College Seawolves by a score of 82-69. The Panthers are now 1-2 overall, while Southern Maine is now 4-1.
The first half was a tightly contested one, with both teams trading runs just one it looked like the other would pull away. It was Maine who jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Panthers 21-11 in the game's opening eight minutes. The Panthers went on their own 15-5 coming out of a timeout though, and fought back to tie the game at 26 at the 7:49 mark. Freshman center
Phil Georgio (Bayside, NY / Archbishop Molloy) showed off his range with a three-pointer to cap off the run. The teams would be tied three more times during the half, but it was the Seawolves who took a five-point lead into the locker room.
Albany once again kept it close out of halftime, but a 10-0 run midway through the half would prove to be the difference in the game. The closest ACP could come after that was five points. Four Seawolves finished in double figures, with senior forward Ryan CLoutier leading the way with 19 points. Standout performers for the Panthers were juniors
Naythan Beltran (Reading, PA / Antietam HS) and
John Ambert (Valley Stream, NY / Archbishop Molloy). Beltran stayed hot with a team-high 24 points while Ambert scored nine and added four assists in just 15 minutes. Beltran has established himself as the preeminent scoring threat for the Panthers, averaging 21.7 points and 3.7 made threes in the team's opening three contests. Albany is averaging 84.3 points per game so far, but will need to clean up things on the defensive end, as they have given up 86.0 points per game, which puts them at 29
th in the USCAA.
ACPHS will have a chance to bounce back on Tuesday, November 13
th, when they host Bryant & Stratton College-Albany.
