Men’s Basketball Wins Season Opener Against Rhode Island College
By Carter Schum | November 3, 2026
On Monday, Nov. 2, the University at Albany men’s basketball team defeated the Rhode Island College Anchormen 74-67.
“If we are going to be a real team, we just have to be better defensively, “ said the team's head coach Dwayne Killings after the game.
The game stayed close early. Despite Great Dane freshman U-Mier Graham scoring a couple of baskets in a row, the Anchormen were able to respond fairly quickly, leaving the game even at 7-7, with 15:02 left to play in the first half.
UAlbany trailed for several minutes in the next part of the game, but thanks to buckets from newcomers Erwann Bussing and Tyler Jones, the Great Danes held a narrow 14-12 advantage with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
The UAlbany lead grew in the next portion of play, with Jones catching fire to make several shots in a row, helping the Great Danes push their advantage to 25-16 at the 7:49 mark of the opening stanza.
The Great Danes' offense seemed to be stuck in second-gear late in the first half, as they were unable to pull away from the Anchormen with the scoreboard reading 33-20 in favor of UAlbany with just under four minutes left in the first half of play.
UAlbany got established in their sets and rhythm in the next two minutes of play, as they were up 40-20, with 91 seconds left in the first half.
Very little scoring happened in the remainder of the first half, as the Great Danes led 42-23 at the break. Tyler Jones led UAlbany in points with 11, on 4-6 shooting. Ollie Engen started cold, but finished the first period of play with nine points. Troy Santos led Rhode Island College with nine points.
The Tyler Jones show continued into the second half as he scored two baskets and assisted another to put UAlbany up 48-25, with 17:53 left in the game.
The next 2:05 of the game saw Ollie Engen make several shots, as he worked well in a pick-and-roll with Kean Webb down low, putting the Great Danes up a then-game high of 25 points, 52-27.
UAlbany once again hit turbulent water on offense, as a series of missed shots and turnovers left coach Killings visibly frustrated on the sideline. Despite his frustrations, Engen continued to hit shots, and a step-back from the free throw line put the Great Danes up 56-29 with 13:41 remaining in the game.
The Anchormen continued to battle in the middle of the second half, as they cut the UAlbany lead to 59-35 with just over 12:30 left to play thanks to an outburst of points from Troy Santos who was up to 17 points.
The Great Danes' turnover issue continued, as a pair of mishandles from Papa Kounta and Moustapha Ndao brought the lead down to 62-42 with 10:32 remaining.
Rhode Island College dominated the next portion of the action, cutting the lead to just 16, 66-50 with 7:25 remaining in the game as they were on an extended run.
The Great Dane collapse would only get worse, as with 5:03 remaining, the Anchormen cut the lead to 68-58.
A pair of Engen layups increased UAlbany’s breathing room to 72-58, with just under 3:30 left to play.
The Great Danes' lead only shrunk in the final action of play, with the scoreboard reading 74-65 with 33 seconds left.
A missed layup from Zacharie Matulu set up one more Anchormen bucket, but the clock expired with UAlbany winning 74-67.
Ollie Engen led the Great Danes in scoring with 25 points on 12-21 shooting. Tyler Jones had 16 points and Erwan Bussing also finished in double figures with 10. Troy Santos put up an impressive 30 points to lead Rhode Island College.
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