2017 Record: 3-4
The Pick:
Albany Great Danes -5 over Stony Brook Sea Wolves
"Go to College Extra on 5 Dimes and look for this game"
Revenge.
You remember the name of the kid who made fun of you at school the first time.
You remember the first time your father laid one into for doing some stupid shi*.
You remember the first time a teacher subtly mocked you in front of the entire classroom for giving a stupid answer.
We all went through this. These events are permanently imprinted on our consciousness until we pass away.
Revenge....acts in the same manner. Even if we never act upon it, it always lingers. If we get a chance to act on it, it is the only opportunity repair the bludgeon mark it has left on our consciousness.
The Albany Great Danes get that opportunity....TONIGHT!
Revenge angles are always touted on this site and everywhere else. This is revenge. That is revenge. Much of it isn't. Some of it is. Most of it fails. A few gems do not. It is an overused angle, an angle that has been tirelessly beaten to death. But let us as cappers not completely dismiss this angle because at it's core, it is more than legitimate, and perhaps, one of the single-most legitimate angles. Why? Revenge angles began with the genesis of capping theory. They matter.
This is a game of revenge because what occurred on 1/8/17, the last time these two teams played, gave everyone who witnessed it something they've never seen and may never see again in the history of college basketball.
On that day, the Albany Great Danes were leading the Stony Brook Sea Wolves were trailing 51-70 with 5:55 left to play.
Then the unconscionable occurred.
Stony Brook scored....
TWENTY ONE STRAIGHT POINTS to win at the buzzer breaking a 70-70 tie to win 72-20.
On top of this, in terms of a total collapse, a collapse that will be imprinted on the mind's of these players forever, in the final 6 minutes, the Danes turned the ball over 8 times and attempted an almost impossible 4 shots.
I researched this and in the final 6 minutes, in terms of one team going scoreless and another scoring consecutive points to win, it was the third largest comeback in the HISTORY of college basketball. Think about how long this sport has been played since 1891 when it was first organized in a YMCA in Springfield Massachusetts.
Out of all the games played in the history of college basketball, this is almost at the pinnacle of worst losses EVER in terms of collapses.. And these players, but a month later, get to play the same team that dealt them that wretched hand. Is that a good side for you? Do you want the Sea Wolves side in that situation??? I sure as hell don't.
How do you right this wrong?
How do you find that anecdote to your hemlock you were forced to drink almost a month ago?
How do you collapse yet again?
I am selling that the Danes will not collapse here, nor will they go silently into the night with a loss on their home court against the Sea Wolves.
Do the Danes care? We have the lip service:
UAlbany coach Will Brown said that game is one of three that will stick with him the rest of his career: "I love the fact that our guys are hungry and anxious to play Stony Brook."
It was like a bad dream," said UAlbany sophomore guard David Nichols.
"Anytime you lose, it stays with you," said Joe Cremo, another sophomore. "That game is still in the back of our heads."
The Albany Times Union described it as:
The most demoralizing, agonizing and unbelievable losses in program history.
Are there any footnotes?
1) Albany is a great rebounding team and is 8th in the nation in rebounding margin.
2) The loss to Stony Brook must have lit a fire under their as* because they come into this game having won 5 of 6 by an average of 18 points with their only loss coming to the premiere team in conference, Vermont. Now it can culminate here with a statement win.
3) This is not only a revenge game but the Big Purple Growl game where attendance will be higher and the festivities will be on full display (not a big deal to us but for us, a big deal to them).
4) This is a big game in terms of conference record as Stony Brook sits at 7-2 which Albany sits at 5-4. Not only can a win help Albany leapfrog several teams in conference, but it will kill Stony Brook's outside shot of winning the conference over Vermont where it sits at 7-2 and two games out.
Is -5 desirable? No. I'd rather have a ML. But this is a revenge win game where nothing less than gas pedal to the floor play is needed an under NO CIRCUMSTANCES can a comeback occur especially after last game.
Lay the points. Be forewarned: the line will move because 5Dimes hates excessive action on these 'exotic' games.