In Monday’s road game in Newark, New Jersey, the Stony Brook Seawolves pulled off a hard-fought victory, 65-61, against NJIT. The game went down to the final minute, but the Seawolves were able to hit key free throws to seal the win. Playing solid and smart basketball, the Seawolves had only 10 turnovers while forcing 21 from their opponent.
Stony Brook was lead by both Ricky Lucas who tallied 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Andre Vanterpool, with 15 points and 5 rebounds. The Seawolves also received strong bench play, getting 22 points from its reserves, while NJIT only produced 9 points off its own. To round out the impressive team effort was Eddie Castellanos. Running the point well with only 1 turnover and 5 assists, he had a ‘SportsCenter’-worthy inbounds alley-oop pass to Vanterpool in the middle of the second half.
The Highlanders effort was lead by Clayton Barker, who had a game high 19 points and 4 assists, and 17 points and 5 rebounds from Kraig Peters.
After taking a lead 58-50 with just under 3 minutes left in the game, NJIT put together one last run, outscoring the Seawolves 11-5 to pull with in a basket. The closest they would get would be the 2 points, as Stony Brook held on to seal the win.
‘Tonight our team was able to grind out another road victory,’ head coach Steve Pikiell said, ‘Andre and Ricky were great for us in the game and I am glad to leave this gym with a win.’
Starting out the first half hot on a 12-2 run, Stony Brook seemed to already have the game in control by the first few minutes of the game. After a time out by NJIT, the home team quickly turned things around, slowing down Stony Brook’s offense while creating easier shots and getting to the foul line. NJIT’s Highlanders were able to finish out the half only down by 24-26. It wasn’t the prettiest first half, with both teams shooting poorly; Stony Brook only hit 40% and the Highlanders 33% from the field.
For the second half, as hard as Stony Brook tried, they just couldn’t seem to escape. The two teams exchanged baskets until the 5:39 mark when it was tied up at 50. Stony Book then went on a little run of its own of 8 unanswered points. Before the Seawolves could relax, however, the home team bounced back, setting up an exciting finish for both the fans and players.
The Seawolves will look to reach .500 when they battle on the road against Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire this Thursday. Tip-off is at 7:00PM.
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