Sophomopre Logan Aronhalt Nets Career-High 27 in University of Albany Basketball's First Win of the Season - UAlbany Sports 2010

Hackensack, N.J. - Sophomore guard Logan Aronhalt had a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, as UAlbany picked up its first win of the season in a 72-46 non-conference victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Stratis Arena in Rothman Center.

Fairleigh Dickinson (0-2) trailed by as much as 12 in the opening half, but cut the deficit to 38-34 early in the final period. Kamil Svrdlik, a 6-foot-8 junior who had eight points and seven rebounds, put back a blocked shot and Mathias Sellund made a 17-foot jumper.

UAlbany (1-3) responded with 18 of the game's next 20 points. Blake Metcalf, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, sandwiched a jump hook and an offensive rebound basket around Aronhalt's short turnaround in the lane that pushed the margin back to double digits. Metcalf finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

The Great Danes, who held FDU to 29.1-percent shooting by primarily using a zone defense, completed the decisive stretch when Jacob Iati drilled a three-point shot from right of key and Jake Lindfors tipped in a missed layup for a commanding 56-36 advantage.

"Our team defense was how we won," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "We are getting better and more comfortable playing the zone and contesting jump shots. When they made their run, we settled down, got the ball inside, and attacked the basket."

In the first half, UAlbany erased an early 11-6 deficit with a string of 11 straight points. Mike Scott, a senior who transferrred from Eastern Utah and originally attended TCU, got his team off to a good start and finished with 23 points. Metcalf drew his team when he scored off an offensive rebound of a missed three-pointer. Aronhalt, who made 9-of-16 from the field and 6-fo-7 from the line, canned back-to-back long range jumpers to put his team in front, the second from the left corner in transition.

Briahn Smith scored on the inside after a rebound to get the Knights within 25-24. But the Great Danes responded with a 13-2 outburst. Ambrose, who had 11 of his 13 points in the opening period, drilled consecutive 3-pointers from the left wing. Stilling leading 31-26, Luke Devlin hit a jump hook and Ambrose canned a three-pointer from the right side to finish off a fastbreak. Aronhalt completed the run with two free throws.

"They have a really good point guard," said Aronhalt, who extended his double-figure scoring streak to seven games. "We picked it up on defense and played together. We did a great job of moving the ball to find the open man and my teammates placed me in good shooting situations."

Iati, who was making his second consecutive start for injured guard Mike Black, totaled 10 points, three assists and five rebounds. The Great Danes built their halftime lead by shooting 57.7 percent in the period.

Paw Prints: UAlbany and Fairleigh Dickinson met for the first time since March 6, 1959 ... FDU posted a 56-53 triumph in the NAIA District 31 Tournament in Montclair, N.J. ... the Great Danes improved to 27-39 all-time against Northeast Conference teams ... UAlbany will also meet NEC members Central Connecticut State, Wagner and Mount St. Mary's in the month of December ... the Great Danes ended a seven-game skid, dating back to last season, and last won at UMBC on Feb. 13, 2010 ... Tim Ambrose climbed to No. 21 on the career scoring list with 1,113 points.



Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information