BY JACK MORGAN – TBLNews.co
APR. 23, 2023
The Albany Patroons came into this weekend being a single game back of first place in the Northeast division. By the end of this game, they would find themselves in first place, like they had been for the majority of the season. Thanks to the Montreal Tundra taking down the Atlantic City Gambits, the Patroons were given an opportunity to win and overtake first place. Albany would not slip up on Friday night at Washington Ave. Armory. The Patroons took the first lead of the game 11 seconds in, and they did not squander that lead all game. Philip Flory put in his best performance yet as a member of the Albany Patroons as well with 26 points on 10-16 shooting in a blowout 126-79 win over the Tri-State Admirals.
Flory got cooking early, as he hit three of his six three pointers in the game just 3:44 in. This gave the Patroons a 15-6 advantage to start this game, and the margin only grew. Flory hit another from beyond the arc four minutes later to stretch the lead to 16. James Currington’s layup with nine seconds left in the quarter put the exclamation point on a 32-point quarter for the Patroons. Currington would record 12 points while shooting an efficient 6-7 from the field. After one quarter, Albany held a 32-10 advantage over Tri-State.
This game got out of hand quickly in the second. Four minutes in, Josue Salaam took on the Admiral defense and finished strong inside to put his Patroons up 42-16. Derrick Rowland Jr. had a great game for the Patroons, as he went for 17 points and added two steals. He got seven of those 17 points in the second quarter, as he finished off his 7-point quarter with a mid-range jumper to put his team up 48-28 with two minutes to go. Once the clock hit zeroes, the Patroons found themselves up 52-30 on the Admirals.
Albany came out firing in the third, and after two straight threes from Flory and Trevis Wyche, their lead swelled to 28 with 9:41 to go. Wyche was sharp in this one, recording 19 points and 11 assists. Three minutes later, another Philip Flory three put the Patroons up by a whopping 75-38 margin. The lead would stay above 30 for the rest of the quarter, ending with Albany touting an 89-58 lead.
A 12-3 run in the first two minutes of the fourth helped the Albany lead eclipse the 40 point mark. Mustapha Traore channeled his inner Dennis Rodman during this two-minute span by not only scoring four points but by snatching four rebounds to go along with it. He ended this one with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Patroons did not show any mercy, as they expanded their lead to a shocking 49 points with 2:02 to play. This 121-72 lead would not hold up though, as the Admirals would outscore them 7-5 to end this game. At long last, the Admirals were able to put this 126-79 smackdown in the rear-view mirror. As for Albany, this was just another win in a long list of them this year where they have dominated from start to finish.
