Sports

Albany Tech hoops back in action tonight

• After a long hiatus for holiday break, the first-year Albany Tech men’s basketball team plays its first game since Dec. 18 tonight at home against Florida Community College.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — The first-year Albany Tech men’s basketball team is undefeated at home, and coach Sylvester Patterson hopes to keep it that way.

The first-year Titans (6-5), winners of two of their past three games, host Florida Community College (9-7) tonight on their designated home court, the HPER Gymnasium, at Albany State.

“The players feel better at home,” said Patterson, whose team will play seven of its next 10 games at home. “Once they hear the crowd, they want to push the tempo and maybe even throw in some dunks to keep the momentum going.”

Tonight’s game will be the Titans’ first since Dec. 18 when they lost, 73-63, to the very team traveling to Albany today. Albany Tech led by one point in the last meeting with two minutes left before two 3-pointers by Florida Community College’s Dwane Joshua helped give his team a five-point advantage.

Free throws down the stretch helped widen the deficit.

“We didn’t execute during those final two minutes,” Patterson said. “We just didn’t close out the game like we should have.”

Truett O’Neal is the Titans’ leading scorer, averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds, but starting shooting guard Channing Hudson will not play this semester due to academics. Billy Smith is ineligible for the same reason, but Zachary Taylor — who Patterson said made a decision along with the school to sit out last semester to improve his grades although he was technically eligible — will start in his place.

Patterson said the final day of last semester was Dec. 13, and on Dec. 18 against Florida Community College, Taylor scored 18 points.

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