By: Chuck Miller
Albany Patroons

The Albany Patroons RETURN TO THE FINALS!!

In the end, last night wasn’t even close.

The Albany Patroons entered the Washington Avenue Armory and dog-walked the Kokomo BobKats 121-83. Took them out like Glass Joe in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.

Don’t believe me? Look at that scoreboard.

It gets better. With that win, the Patroons are now the champions of the TBL’s East Region, and will face the Shreveport Mavericks for the 2022 TBL title.

Trust me. Albany fought hard against the BobKats last night. AJ Mosby dropped 36 points into the cylinder. Anthony Moe had 15 rebounds on a double-double night. Luther Page came off the bench and swatted back some clutch blocked shots. The BobKats now have a 12-hour drive back to Indiana, while the Patroons fight for the championship.

AJ Mosby (center) holds TBL Eastern Division title, while Mike Williams (r) and Trevis Wyche (l) all stand tall.

The Pats received their East Regional championship trophy last night, and now are only two victories away from reclaiming the TBL title.

A title, mind you, that they technically never lost. Albany won the 2019 TBL championship over the Yakima Sun Kings, then had a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, and skipped the 2021 season while the Washington Avenue Armory served as a COVID-19 vaccination site. But upon their return to the old home at Washington and Lark, the Patroons have been unstoppable.

Throughout the 2022 season, the Patroons have defeated EVERY SINGLE OPPONENT that entered the Armory floor. And that includes the visiting NBL Canada’s London Lightning, who suffered a loss at the hands of the Patroons in an NBL-TBL interleague championship matchup. It also includes the visiting Atlantic City Gambits, who tried to steal a playoff matchup away. It also includes the Huntsville Hurricanes, who were neutralized in two straight in their playoff series. And now the Kokomo BobKats get neutralized, defanged and declawed.

Oh, yeah. This feels good.

I should also note that last night’s win was Albany’s 27th consecutive home victory. That’s a streak that goes all the way back to 2019. We are one victory away from tying the Patroons’ all-time home unbeaten streak, a 28-0 run from the 1990-91 season – a season where George Karl coached the Patroons; where Mario Elie and Vincent Askew were part of the team’s lineup; a year when the Pats went 50-6 in the regular season and completely obliterated the 1990-91 CBA regular season.

Hell yeah.

So the Patroons go to Shreveport for Game 1 of the series, then returns to Albany for Games 2 and 3 (if necessary). The winner claims the TBL championship.

Let me rephrase that.

Albany will claim the 2022 TBL championship.

Okay. Now I’m ready for the championship. ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€