The Stony Brook men’s basketball team delivered a strong performance in its first outing in front of its fans this season.
After facing the 33rd toughest schedule in the nation through their first three games, the Seawolves (2-2) were able to catch their breath in their 2024-25 debut at Stony Brook Arena on Saturday, as they faced the Division III’s St. Joseph’s Long Island Golden Eagles (0-3). Though Stony Brook maintained control throughout the contest, it truly turned up the pace in the second half and cruised to a 93-45 blowout win.
From the opening minutes, guard Joe Octave came out firing. With 11:16 left in the first half, he had already attempted seven shots and converted on four of those attempts, helping the Seawolves to a 13-7 early edge.
“I feel like the first three games I was trying to feel the game out,” Octave said in a postgame press conference. “That’s when I’m not at my best. When I’m playing aggressive, playing for everybody is when I’m at my best. I’ve played a game like that before and I knew what it was going to look like and the intensity I had to bring.”
After his seventh shot attempt — a miss from beyond the arc — Octave was subbed off, and — on St. Joseph’s ensuing possession — guard Justin Forest was sent to the free throw line and dispatched both to cut the Golden Eagles’ deficit to four.
However, Stony Brook took control from there. Despite missing several open looks and committing causeless turnovers, the Seawolves’ defense entered lockdown mode and kept St. Joseph’s off the board for nearly three minutes.
The defensive surge gave Stony Brook’s offense ample opportunities to extend its lead, which it slowly, but surely did. This pattern continued for the rest of the period, allowing the Seawolves to take a 40-19 advantage into the halftime break.
“I thought [St. Joseph’s] ran long possessions,” head coach Geno Ford said. “It’s hard to concentrate for 20 and 25 seconds. I think it was good for us because we were forced to guard multiple seconds. For the most part, you’re always going to have some blown coverages on some switches, but I thought we communicated, certainly better than we did a week ago.”
The second half was all about guard C.J. Luster II. As Stony Brook’s defense kept stifling any offensive flow from the Golden Eagles, Luster II built on his strong first-half performance — wherein he scored 10 points — to dominate the final 20 minutes of play.
In total, Luster II exploded for 20 points in the second half on six-of-11 shooting and drained five of his seven attempts from three-point range.
“I just feel like they were going in,” Luster II said. “Once I [saw] the ball go into the net the first time, it went up from there.”
Luster II’s hot hand ignited his teammates, as the Seawolves shot 55.6% from the field in the latter period, up from 43.4% in the first half. Powered largely by Luster II, Stony Brook also erupted from beyond the arc, knocking down eight threes in the final frame after just two in the first period.
Overall, the Seawolves registered a .493/.313/.786 shooting line. Conversely, St. Joseph’s posted a .254/.160/.900 slashline.
Stony Brook won the turnover battle 13-9 and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 53-32. The hosts were also incredibly more effective around the rim, outscoring the visitors 48-16 in points in the paint.
Luster II and Octave were the offensive standouts for the Seawolves on Saturday. The former finished with 30 points on eight-of-16 shooting, while the latter chimed in with 15 points on seven-of-14 shooting.
Forward Nick Woodard and guard Jared Frey were Stony Brook’s only other double-digit scorers, with 11 and 10, respectively.
The Seawolves will remain home for their next affair. They will host the Yale Bulldogs at Stony Brook Arena on Wednesday. Yale is 2-3 this year thus far after a 59-56 loss to Minnesota. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 6:31 p.m.
