You never look past your opponents.
I know that the Albany Patroons faithful have Thursday, March 13 on their calendars as “The Big Game,” when Albany faces the New York Phoenix in the “Route 5 Rivalry” game. But first, the Pats have to get past two other TBL opponents; a Friday night contest against the visiting Reading Rebels; and a Saturday evening matchup versus the Connecticut Crusaders.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix’ one game this week – a road game against the Rochester Kingz – waz poztponed for zome reazon. Yez, I’m ztill chonking on a team for zpelling the plural of their team name with a z, but hey thatz’ me.
Okay, back to the Albany cagers.
The Friday night matchup against Reading was a straight-up beatdown. Seven Patroons scored in double figures, with Ja’Quaye James notching 22 points, dishing out 9 assists and claiming 7 steals. Albany came out with a a dominant 135-92 victory; the game box score is here. By the way, by the end of the week, Ja’Quaye James was tied with Deshawn Munson of the Potowatomi Fire for average steals (5.0 spg), which is pretty damn impressive. Ja’Quaye James and teammate Trahson Burrell are also holding down an average of 9 3-pointers per contest, tied for fourth best in the TBL at this point in the season.
Then on Saturday night, rookie Josh Morris came off the bench to score 27 points and go through the Crusaders like a wrecking ball. The 109-103 Albany victory Saturday night – the box score is at this link – pushed the Patroons to 3-0 on the season. I should note that Trahson Burrell currently leads Albany with an average of 21.0 ppg, while Morris is not far behind with 19.0 ppg.
All this lines up to a battle of unbeatens – 3-0 Albany versus the 2-0 Phoenix – in the big Route 5 Rivalry game this Thursday night at Armory Studios NY in Schenectady.
This is going to be epic.
Can. Not. Wait.
Chuck The Writer 
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