Albany loses at home for just the second time this season, falling to Yakima.
For the first time this season, Albany Patroons coach Derrick Rowland let his frustration spew out.
After the Patroons dropped a 99-94 The Basketball League game to the Yakima Sunkings in front of an announced crowd of 500 at Washington Avenue Armory on Friday night, Rowland made a beeline to the team’s locker room in the building’s basement.
Normally, Rowland will stick around on the Armory floor and greet fans after a game. Usually, though, the Patroons win. This was just the second loss in 10 home games. And, it didn’t help Rowland’s mood that the loss came against Yakima.
“Very frustrating,” Rowland said, sitting behind his desk, not fully calmed down. “This is a game we want to win, it’s a game we have to win.”
Yakima and Albany have a history, having played each other in three different leagues (the Continental Basketball Association, the North American Premier Basketball League and the TBL) over the past three decades.
A season ago, it was the Sunkings who beat the Patroons on their way to the NAPBL championship. Yakima is in second place in the TBL with a 17-6 record; the Patroons are in fourth at 11-8.
“I have never lost this much as a Patroon,” Rowland said. “Ever.”
Rowland, the most popular player in the old CBA days, is the all-time scoring leader for the team. It pained him to see the current Patroons play the way they did against the Sunkings.
After a solid first half, when Albany had a 55-43 lead, nothing much went right in the second half.
In the first half, the Patroons shot 8-for-17 from 3-point range with EJ Gallup leading the way. He scored all 13 of his points in the second quarter, making three of four from 3-point range.
Then, it all dried up. In the second half, the Patroons, who have to rely on their perimeter game because of a lack of size up front, were 2-for-21 from 3-point range. In the decisive fourth quarter, Albany made just 1 of 14 from long distance.
Lloyd Johnson, normally one of the more reliable shooters for the Patroons, missed all eight of his 3-point attempts and was 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter.
“We just could not get a shot to fall,” said Albany guard Joshua Cameron, who had all 11 of his points in the first half. “It was like there was a lid on the basket. It was a tough game for us.”
Yakima was led by guard Robert Duncan, who had 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. The Sunkings demolished the Patroons on the boards, 57-43, something Rowland knows is going to be a problem if he can’t fix it.
And he doesn’t know if he can.
“We need a big man, we don’t have any consistent post scoring,” Rowland said. “Sometimes, the three ball isn’t going to go and we had no one to throw it to into the paint. We are limited. I am forced to go with the hand I got.”
Rowland said it’s hard to bring in a big body because the team does not have the monetary resources to get one. Yakima had three players get double figures in rebounds, led by 6-foot-7 Renaldo Major, who had 14, and the 6-10 Mac Koshwal and the 6-4 Duncan each had 10.
“I don’t know what to say,” Rowland said. “I am extremely frustrated.”
Darius Paul led the Patroons with 24 points and Edwin Ubiles added 14.