ALBANY – After three years out of professional basketball, Shadell Millinghaus was back with the Albany Patroons on Friday night inside Washington Avenue Armory.
Millinghaus, a former Schenectady High and Troy High star, let everyone know he was home. The 6-foot-2 point guard had 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists as the Patroons vanquished the London (Ont.) Lightning of National Basketball League of Canada 96-91.
“This is my spot,” said Millinghaus, holding his 1-year-old son, Kobe. “This is my house. It’s our house. You know what I’m saying? We worked hard to build this up here. So we’re just trying to keep it going.”
The Patroons (9-1) of The Basketball League won their ninth straight game. They beat the defending NBL Canada champion Lightning (11-6) for the second straight year at the Armory.
Millinghaus, 29, led the Patroons to the TBL title in 2019 and last played professionally in 2020, until the TBL season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He is an assistant coach for Northwest Florida State College, a junior college in Niceville, Fla., which lost last Saturday in the NJCAA national championship game.
Millinghaus drove up from Florida with his family and made his Patroons debut Friday. Albany head coach Derrick Rowland put him in late in the first quarter and Millinghaus played 27 minutes.
“I felt good, man,” Millinghaus said. “I just wanted to win. Anything to take the win. I wasn’t focused on stats tonight out there. I was just focused on winning.”
He helped spur a 27-6 run that gave the Patroons a 73-59 lead late in the third quarter. He made a wild lefty shot in traffic while falling out of bounds for a 58-53 lead.
“That’s from playing with my team at Northwest Florida (in practice),” said Millinghaus, a former Southern Miss and Texas Tech guard. “They got me…
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