In the Great Danes’ home opener Saturday night at Broadview Center, UAlbany allowed Division III SUNY Oneonta to stay within 38-36 at halftime.
There was nothing about DeMarr Langford Jr.’s dunk in transition late in the second half.
Zane Adnan‘s steal gave Langford the go-ahead lead, and Langford took two steps inside the foul line and then dunked right-handed for a 28-20 lead.
The Great Danes kept Oneonta at bay, but the intensity of Langford’s play was emblematic of how UAlbany took care of business in the second half en route to an 89-69 nonconference victory.
“This is what we had to do to start the game,” Killings said. “We didn’t. “I think we’re still a little timid and hesitant.”
Langford finished with 18 points, while Byron Joshua (16), Kacper Klaczek (14), Amir Lindsey (13) and Sultan Adewale (10) also reached double figures.
After using 10 players in a 67-59 loss at Army to open the season, Killings used 11 players in the first half against Oneonta. Not among them were starters Amar’e Marshall, who is out with a thumb injury, and Aaron Reddish (back), who played 26 minutes against the Cadets.
The Great Danes committed 14 fouls in the first half. Klacek, who started in the 11th minute of the first half, committed his third foul with 5 minutes and 2 seconds left.
Langford got the crowd going with a huge one-handed dunk from just inside the free throw line.
“Zayn threw the ball out to me and I looked at the back of No. 35’s (Xavier Hill) head and knew he wasn’t going to be ready. So I just went up and dunked the ball,” Langford said. .
“He needs to do it more often,” Killings said.
The Great Danes started the second half quickly, using an 11-0 run that included a basket and a 3-pointer by Lindsey to go up 49-36.
“Our defensive intensity was completely non-existent (at first),” Langford said. “We may have underestimated that team, we just didn’t have the gap. And we didn’t rebound.
“Our defensive energy wasn’t where we wanted it to be in the first half, but DeMarr, Byron, Amir, Kacper and Sultan did a great job setting the tone for the second half,” Killings said.