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Albany
Add another chore onto the workload of University at Albany men’s basketball coach Will Brown this week. Job No. 1, of course, is to get the Great Danes ready for their America East Conference quarterfinal game against Hartford at 7:30 Wednesday night at SEFCU Arena.
He is only moonlighting as an assistant ticket manager for UAlbany. Brown said he is going to do whatever he can to make sure SEFCU Arena is as full as it can possibly be on Wednesday.
“We have a good, young team, and we have two local kids (Scotia’s Joe Cremo and CBA’s Greig Stire) starting,” Brown said. “If I have to promote it all day, every day, I will take the reigns and promote it.”
Brown said that he will “disappointed” if there is “anything less than 3,500” in attendance for the Hartford game.
In 14 home games during the regular season, the Danes averaged 2,856 fans. There were two sellout crowds of 4,538 — against Siena on Nov. 27 and Feb. 4 against Stony Brook.
Brown said he was discouraged with the crowd in last year’s quarterfinal game at SEFCU Arena. In that one, a crowd of 2,535 was announced and it saw UAlbany, the second seed, get upset by seventh-seeded Hartford.
“I think we just have to help ourselves as much as possible,” Brown said. “It was hard last year. There was no crowd for the quarterfinal. (SEFCU Arena) was dead. What a crowd can do when you are struggling is give you energy. We did not have that at all. And we struggled.”
Tickets for Wednesday’s game are $5 for students and children 12 and under (the first 500 UAlbany students get in free says athletic director Mark Benson). Other tickets range in price from $15 to $20. The prices are set by the league. According to the UAlbany website, the entire student section (behind both baskets) are sold out.
During the regular season, tickets for UAlbany men’s games are priced between $12 and $20. Postseason games are not included in the UAlbany season ticket holder package, but people with season tickets were the given the chance to purchase their same seats for this game.
“This is the last home game, unless something crazy happens, and we don’t bank on crazy,” Brown said. “Crazy happened last year.”
He was referring to a lower seed in the America East beating a higher seed.
Brown said he has been going on social media to get the word out. On his twitter account, he has targeted the UAlbany student population as well as other sports teams, including the football, lacrosse and track and field teams.
“If I can assist in getting people here, I am going to do it,” Brown said. “I did not do it last year, and I am not going to make that mistake. I might walk through the campus center, tweet to (Governor) Cuomo, invite (President) Trump. I will invite everybody. We have to get the students here.”
twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin
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