After three straight matchups against Ivy League opponents, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team has now suffered three consecutive ugly losses.
Following back-to-back defeats to Yale and Columbia, the Seawolves (2-5) hoped the third time would be the charm against an Ivy foe when they matched up against the Brown Bears (4-3) on Wednesday afternoon in Providence, R.I. However, Stony Brook instead suffered another wire-to-wire loss, falling in 77-54 fashion.
Guard Joe Octave and forward Ben Wight combined for 41 of the Seawolves’ 54 points on Wednesday.
Early in the contest, it was Octave leading Stony Brook’s offense. Brown opened the game by hitting its first three shots — including a three-pointer by guard Aaron Cooley — for a 7-2 lead, with Octave accounting for the Seawolves’ points.
By the first stoppage of play, the Bears had stretched their lead to 12-4, while Stony Brook was left waiting for contributions from anyone other than Octave. Out of the break — after guard C.J. Luster II split a trip to the free throw line — Brown drained three straight shots from beyond the arch for a 21-5 advantage.
Thereafter, the Seawolves’ offense continued to struggle and the hosts capitalized. With 5:12 left in the first half, a three from Brown guard Jeremiah Jenkins pushed the Bears’ lead to 35-14 — their largest of the contest to that point — and the 21-point margin one they would match twice more in the period.
Following consecutive baskets from Wight just before the break, Stony Brook went into the half down 43-24.
The Seawolves got off to a promising start in the second frame. In their opening possession of the half, Luster II put away a three-pointer. Just over a minute later, Octave cut into the deficit even further with an and-one layup to make it 43-30.
However, four quick points from Brown derived from free throws and a fastbreak dunk derailed Stony Brook’s comeback attempt. Despite Wight tallying six of the game’s next eight points to make it 49-36, that was the Seawolves’ last breath.
The Bears followed with a 14-2 run and cruised to a win from there.
“We obviously aren’t playing very well right now,” head coach Geno Ford said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “But I thought [Wight] had another really good game and [Octave] really battled and gave us a good performance. We need to get some other guys going.”
Stony Brook posted a .368/.063/.688 shooting line. Conversely, Brown put up a .509/.394/.545 triple slash.
Taking Octave and Wight from the equation, the Seawolves shot 17.2% from the field and committed 10 turnovers to go with the 13 points scored among eight players.
Octave finished with a season-high 24 points on nine-for-21 shooting. Wight went a perfect seven-for-seven from the field, making three of his four attempts from the charity stripe, for 17 points. He also achieved a season-high. The pair brought in seven and five rebounds, respectively.
Cooley led the Bears in scoring with 17 points on seven-for-nine shooting.
Stony Brook will be back at Stony Brook Arena for its next contest, which will take place on Sunday against the Norfolk State Spartans. Its next opponent is 5-3 this season after a 76-55 victory over UC Davis. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
