Albany vs Niagara 12/18/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Niagara Purple Eagles (4-6) vs. Albany Great Danes (3-7)
December 18, 2021 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Albany Great Danes +5 / Niagara Purple Eagles -5; Over/Under: -120.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Niagara Purple Eagles and the Albany Great Danes meet in college hoops action from KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Niagara Purple Eagles come into this game on the heels of a 112-52 win over subdivision Buffalo State in their last game. Marcus Hammond leads the Purple Eagles in scoring and assists with 17.3 PPG and 2.9 APG as the lone double-digit scorer for Niagara so far this season while Jordan Cintron has 9.2 PPG with 4.7 RPG and Sam Iorio has 8.1 PPG with a team-high 5.6 RPG as well this season. As a team, Niagara is averaging 68.9 PPG on 45.6% shooting from the field, 35.9% from three and 78.1% from the foul line while allowing 64.5 PPG on 40.4% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three this season.
The Albany Great Danes will look to build on a 61-57 win over Boston College in their last game. De’Vondre Perry leads the Great Danes in scoring and rebounding with 12.5 PPG and 5.3 RPG while Matt Cerruti has 10 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Albany so far this season. Justin Neely has 6.8 PPG and 5.3 RPG while Jamel Horton has a team-high 4.3 APG as well to lead the Great Danes in assists. As a team, Albany is averaging 57.8 PPG on 38.8% shooting from the field, 29.8% from three and 66.7% from the foul line while allowing 68.7 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field and 35.1% from three this season.
Niagara is 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 games overall and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a losing record. Albany is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall.
I get the case that could be made for Niagara here as they’re the more name-recognizable team of the two here and Albany hasn’t been anything to write home about, but this is an important in-state rivalry game to both teams and I think both will be up for it and with how much success the underdog’s had in this matchup, covering in each of the last four meetings, I think you have to side with Albany and the points here.
