Reserve guard Jamil Hood helped spark a game-ending 28-3 run on Monday that gave the Albany Patroons a 135-108 victory over the Newfoundland Rogues in Game 2 to capture The Basketball League’s East Conference championship before a crowd of 1,356 at Washington Avenue Armory.
The Patroons (25-4) swept the best-of-3 series with the Rogues and advanced to a best-of-3 regional series against the St. Louis Griffins that begins Thursday in St. Louis.
Games 2 and 3, if necessary, will be played Sunday and Monday at the Armory.
The Patroons led 107-105 with 6:38 remaining before their late-game eruption led by Hood, a Green Tech and Bryant & Stratton alumnus, who entered the game just 50 seconds earlier. He had 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal during the 28-3 run.
Patroons coach left Hood in the game for the final 7:28 rather than going back to starting guard Trevis Wyche.
“I really just think my name happened to be called,” Hood said. “Trevis did a great job throughout the whole game slowing down the other guard (Newfoundland’s Amani Cheney), being a leader and I just came in and helped him out, mostly.”
Albany guard Ed Dyson III paced the Patroons with a season-high 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting. Guard Shadell Millinghaus, a former Schenectady and Troy star, had a triple-double with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
“We needed a boost and I did what I had to do to get us going,” Dyson said. “My teammates trusted me with different shots, so just took advantage of it and it worked out.”
Patroons coach Derrick Rowland said his team’s depth came into play late. Albany played 10 men while Newfoundland barely went seven deep.
“It certainly did,” Rowland said. “They got tired. I could just see them start missing free throws. They couldn’t get back in transition. The depth we have always makes a difference for us.”
For about 42 minutes on Monday, Newfoundland (26-19) gave Albany a much tougher game than the Patroons’ 134-108 Game 1 win on Friday in Newfoundland.
Then came Albany’s dominant finish.
“We knew we were better than this team,” Rowland said. “We didn’t play to our potential up until then. We just turned it up. Jamil Hood came off the bench and gave us a big spark and we just made it happen. We started getting stops.”
Forward Marquise Collins led Newfoundland with 34 points, though the Patroons neutralized him late by double-teaming him.
The Patroons, who raised the East Conference trophy, plan on boarding a bus on Wednesday to head to St. Louis, the Midwest Conference champion. It’s about a 1,000 mile. 15-hour trip.
The winner of this regional series will face the victor of the Potawatomi Fire-Seattle Super Hawks regional series for the TBL championship.
“You want to celebrate every step of the way, because you just never know what could happen,” Rowland said. “We earned it. We deserve it. I’m happy for my players. We’ve got to go and lock in for the final four.”