For a second straight outing, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team could not keep up with an Ivy League opponent.
On Saturday evening, the Seawolves (2-4) faced off against the undefeated Columbia Lions (7-0) in New York City, N.Y. Stony Brook struggled from the opening tip, and, unable to contain Columbia guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa — who exploded for 37 points — it was defeated in 82-63 fashion.
It would be hard to imagine a worse start than the one the Seawolves experienced right out of the gate. After missing their first two shot attempts, De La Rosa drained a three-pointer on the other end for the game’s first score.
On Stony Brook’s ensuing possession, guard Joe Octave missed a pair of layups, the second of which leading to a fastbreak, and-one basket from forward Blair Thompson after he was fouled by Octave. Just over a minute later — following a turnover from Octave — the Lions made it 9-0 after another make from beyond the arch from De La Rosa.
For much of the first half, the pattern remained the same: the Seawolves took, and mostly missed, contested shots, while Columbia consistently capitalized on high-quality attempts. The early imbalance culminated in a 33-17 lead for the Lions with 4:15 left in the period.
However, Stony Brook began to find its rhythm on both sides of the floor to close out the frame. Columbia managed just five more points for the remainder of the half, while Stony Brook steadily chipped away at the deficit.
Much of the Seawolves’ scoring came from the charity stripe, with forward Ben Wight and guard Jared Frey combining for five successful free throws. After guard Collin O’Connor added a jumper and guard C.J. Luster II knocked down a three, Stony Brook’s disadvantage was trimmed to 38-28 following 20 minutes of play.
Although the Seawolves’ second half start was not as disastrous as their first, they were exceeded by the Lions with the sides trading baskets to commence the period. Following a layup from guard Avery Brown with 13:43 left in the contest to give his team a 15-point cushion, a stoppage of play due to a timeout led to a game-sealing stretch from Columbia.
After the slight break, Stony Brook had four opportunities to remedy Brown’s bucket but failed at every turn, leading to another layup from the Lions — this time from De La Rosa. His basket led to a 18-2 run from the Lions, spearheaded by De La Rosa himself who contributed eight points.
Following Columbia’s avalanche, both teams turned to their respective bench pieces to wind down the clock.
“Credit to Columbia,” head coach Geno Ford said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “We struggled tonight to stop [De La Rosa], who had a fantastic game.”
The Seawolves posted a .328/.300/.750 triple slash. Conversely, the Lions put up a .533/.467/.500 slashline.
Stony Brook won the turnover battle 12-11 but had fewer points in the paint (36-24) and fastbreak points (21 to nine) than the hosts.
Luster II led the Seawolves in scoring with 14 points on five-of-12 shooting. He made four of his seven attempts from three-point range. Octave and Wight delivered 12 points while Frey trailed them with 11.
De La Rosa’s 37 points was a career-high. He shot an efficient 14-for-18 from the field and nine-for-13 from deep. Guard Kenny Noland was Columbia’s only other double-digit scorer with 17 points.
Stony Brook will remain on its Ivy League tour for its next game, which will be on Wednesday against the Brown Bears in Providence, R.I. The Bears are 3-3 this season after a 83-76 win over Canisius. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
