Stony Brook’s men’s basketball team rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat the Columbia Lions 63-60 on Saturday. Junior guard Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, NY.) scored a game-high 18 points to help the Seawolves improve to 6-2, their best start since 1992-93.
‘What a terrific win for our guys against a very good and experienced Columbia team,’ Seawolves Head Coach Steve Pikiell said. ‘We really played well on the defensive end in the second half, and then made enough plays down the stretch to get a hard-earned victory. I couldn’t be prouder of my team.’
After losing senior center Desmond Adedeji (Landover Hills, MD.) for the season, it was clear that someone would have to step up. Adedeji, who led the team in field goal percentage, suffered a torn ACL during the battle against St. John’s Wednesday night.
Stony Brook ended the game on a 25-10 run behind a combined 16 points from Martin and sophomore forward Danny Carter (London, UK). Carter and sophomore guard Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, NJ.) both finished the game with 12 points.
Columbia, now 3-4, went on a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 50-38, with 14:11 remaining in the second half. But seven combined points from Martin and Carter made it 50-45 and forced Columbia to call a timeout. The Lions were able to push their lead back to six, but Carter answered with back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 54, with 7:30 left in the game.
After the Lions were able to break the tie on a jumper from Noruwa Agho, the Seawolves answered right back when sophomore forward Tommy Brenton (Columbia, MD.) found sophomore center Dallis Joyner under the basket for a dunk. On Columbia’s very next possession, Brenton was able to steal the ball and take it the length of the court, for a thunderous slam that brought the home crowd to its feet. This was the Seawolves’ first lead of the half, at 58-56.
Defense then dominated the rest of the game, as both teams remained scoreless for the next three minutes. Martin ended the drought with a driving layup, pushing the Seawolves’ lead to four. The Lions would close within two, and then stopped the Seawolves on their next possession, giving them the ball with 40 seconds left. But SBU forced its way through and Martin came up big once again, hitting two free-throws to push the lead back to four.
‘When he gets to the foul line it helps our team tremendously,’ Pikiell said of Martin. ‘I always feel comfortable with him at the end of games, and that’s a good feeling to have.’
A layup from Patrick Foley brought the Lions back within two and then Dougher missed a free throw to give Columbia a chance to tie or take the lead with 11 seconds left. But the defense came up big once again, forcing Foley into a missed jumper and Joyner grabbed the rebound with four seconds left. Carter then hit one of two from the line with one second left and the Lions were unable to get a shot off before time expired. The Seawolves improved to 3-0 at home on the season.
Martin was clutch in the final minutes of the game, finishing 10-for-11 from the foul line. Brenton recorded double-digit rebounds for the third-straight game, as he grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, MI.) also chipped in with nine points. The Seawolves held the Lions to 38.2 shooting for the game, the sixth time this season the opponent was held to under 40 percent shooting.
Stony Brook returns to the road on Tuesday, traveling to the Bronx to face the Fordham Rams. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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