Despite a tough effort, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team’s losing streak expanded to five games.
Hoping for their first win in nearly a month, the Seawolves (2-7) played the Air Force Falcons (3-7) on Saturday in Frisco, Texas as part of the Texas Legends Showcase. Ultimately, Stony Brook was defeated in 69-61 fashion.
Once again, the Seawolves faced depth issues, as four players — guards C.J. Luster II, Collin O’Connor, Joe Octave and forward Andre Snoddy — combined for 59 of their 61 points.
Stony Brook relied on Luster II from the opening tip-off, as he registered the team’s first five points. However, the Seawolves trailed the Falcons for the majority of the first half. Air Force’s lead was built from back-to-back three-pointers to begin the game from guard Byron Brown and center Wesley Celichowski.
With 9:45 remaining in the period, the Falcons extended their advantage to six points after a fastbreak layup by Celichowski. Undeterred, Luster II continued to showcase his dominance with a pair of free throws, followed by a three closing the gap to one at 15-14.
Following a layup by Air Force guard Jeffrey Mills with under seven minutes left in the frame, Luster II converted another shot from beyond the arch to tie the contest at 17 apiece. However, things went off the rails for Stony Brook thereafter.
A made jumpshot in the paint from Air Force forward Caleb Walker capped off a 10-2 run for the Falcons to make it 27-19 — the eight-point advantage being their largest of the game.
Still, the Seawolves battled back and were able to cut their deficit to just four at the halftime break after a layup from O’Connor.
The teams battled at the start of the second frame, and Stony Brook was unable to pull even or go out in front. Efficient shooting from Air Force allowed it to hold at least a four-point lead in the opening minutes of the half before the advantage ballooned to nine after Celichowski drained a pair from the charity stripe.
However, with 14:44 remaining in the contest, the Seawolves embarked on a 8-0 run — highlighted by a layup and dunk from Octave — to make it a 38-37 affair.
Nonetheless, the Falcons’ response was strong and surpassed Stony Brook’s earlier stretch. Walker sprung to life for six points amidst 12 unanswered points for Air Force, which gave it a 49-37 lead with 9:48 left in the game.
The Seawolves would not go away quietly, as they cut the advantage to as little as six with just over seven minutes remaining. After a three-pointer from Air Force guard Ethan Taylor followed by a layup by Celichowski, Luster II drained a three to close the gap to eight. But, Stony Brook would go scoreless for the next four minutes to eliminate any chance at a comeback.
“We did enough rebounding and on the defensive end to win the game today,” head coach Geno Ford said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “But when you shoot [three-for-21] from three it’s near impossible to win. Our value for the ball was poor and, as we’ve experienced so far this season, we have no consistency as to what we are capable of. We played last Sunday against harder pressure-defense and had six turnovers, but today we didn’t make good decisions and finished with 17. We need to just keep working. We have time, but need to start getting better at a faster rate.”
The Seawolves registered a .373/.143/.824 shooting line. Conversely, the Falcons posted a .571/.333/.789 slashline.
Luster II poured in 27 points on seven-of-17 shooting from the field to lead Stony Brook. He made all 10 of his attempts from the line. O’Connor and Snoddy were the team’s only other double-digit scorers with 13 and 11, respectively.
Celichowski spearheaded Air Force’s offense with 22 points on six-of-10 shooting.
Stony Brook will look to break its losing streak on Saturday when it faces the Rider Broncs in Lawrenceville, N.J. The Broncs are 4-6 this season after a 72-67 loss to Quinnipiac. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
