Senior Guard Nate Beltran scored 38 points on 14-24 shooting in the ACPHS Panthers' 82-64 win over the Five Towns College Sound on Sunday, November 11
th. The win pushed Albany's winning streak to three and improved their overall record to 3-1. Despite the two teams both being in the HVIAC, this matchup was not considered a conference game as Five Towns and ACPHS will face-off again later in the year.
The Panthers led wire-to-wire in this one, scoring the game's opening five points and running out to an 8-2 lead after two early three pointers from freshman guard
Jordan Simmons and Beltran. Beltran was the go-to guy throughout the half, scoring 18 points and routinely finding himself good shooting opportunities. Five Towns did cut the lead to three at the 9:07 mark, but Albany's
Joel Martineau scored five straight points to push it back to eight. The sophomore guard finished the contest with seven points off the bench. The Panthers' big run came with five minutes left in the half, when they scored 12 straight points to extend the lead to 18.
In the second half, Beltran continued to dominate and his teammates took notice, looking for the hot shooter early and often. ACPHS' lead never fell below 11 points, and the Panther coasted to their third win in a row. Beltran chipped in nine rebounds and three steals to go along with his game-high 38, while Simmons finished with 14 points, ten rebounds, four assists and two steals. Five Towns had three players finish in double-figures, with Kyree Sawyer's 20 points leading the way. The difference in the game was mainly the three-pointer as the Panther made ten of their 30 attempts (33%) while the Sound could muster just four makes on 17 attempts (24%).
The Panthers are back in action this Thursday when they host SUNY Ulster at the Albert M. White Gymnasium on the campus of APCHS with tip-off scheduled for 7:00pm.
