
After holding a lead in the first half, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team saw another game slip away against a Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) opponent.
Making the trip to Maryland, the Seawolves (4-15, 0-6 CAA) held their own against the Towson Tigers (10-9, 5-1 CAA), even building a 25-19 lead at the midway point. The back half saw Stony Brook get outscored by 10 points, amounting to a 53-49 loss.
The Seawolves got off to a hot start as they seeked their first conference win, scoring the first eight points of the contest. The sequence included a pair of three-pointers from guard Joe Octave and a jumpshot by forward Andre Snoddy.
However, down 19-12 with 4:23 left to play in the opening half, Towson upped its tempo. It registered consecutive layups courtesy of forward Caleb Embeya and guard Mekhi Lowery to pull within three, with the latter even including a three-point play opportunity. Lowery failed to complete it, but an offensive rebound by Embeya paved the way for Towson forward Tomiwa Sulaiman to drill a game-tying three.
After surrendering its lead, Stony Brook’s offense broke a over three-minute scoring slump with scores on back-to-back possessions. Makes from beyond the arch by guards Jared Frey and Collin O’Connor handed the Seawolves a six-point advantage at the halftime break.
In the second half, the Tigers quickly closed the gap. After the teams traded points in the frame’s opening minutes, Towson guard Nendah Tarke knocked down a pair of free throws before, on the Tigers’ next possession after a turnover by forward Ben Wight, guard Christian May used the glass to add two to make it a 31-27 affair with 14:23 left.
Two minutes later, following a missed three-pointer by forward Leon Nahar, Lowery snagged the defensive rebound and sprinted up the court. He worked his way into the paint and made a layup, bringing Towson to within two.
After the sides exchanged scores once again for the ensuing minute and a half, a layup by Wight staked the Seawolves to a three-point advantage with 9:13 remaining in the affair. However, that is when the tide turned.
The Tigers ripped off five unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, capped off by a three-point play by guard Tyler Tejada. The Seawolves fought back, tying the score at 37 following a successful trip to the charity stripe by Frey. Nonetheless, a three by Towson guard Dylan Williamson and a dunk by Lowery upped the hosts advantage to five.
With the score now 48-43, Frey drew a foul from May and promptly connected on both of his free throw attempts with a hair over two minutes to play. A minute later, Embeya fouled Wight, who also hit both from the line to draw within a single point.
Still, Williamson and Tejada proceeded to ice the game, as the former hit a jumper to extend the lead to three before the latter made two free throws to stretch the lead to five.
“We played hard and were able to match Towson’s physicality, which is their best quality,” head coach Geno Ford said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “We gave up three offensive rebounds on the free throw line, which hurt, and we couldn’t score on a couple possessions in a row inside two minutes. Our inexperience showed down the stretch.”
Stony Brook posted a .356/.227/1.000 shooting line with 14 turnovers. Conversely, the Tigers put up a .365/.136/.522 slashline alongside nine giveaways.
Towson dominated down low, outscoring the Seawolves in the paint 32-18.
Frey and Octave each dropped 16 points to lead Stony Brook. Frey shot 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range. He also connected on all six of his free throw tries. Octave finished 6-for-17 overall and 2-for-9 from deep.
Snoddy headed the Seawolves’ rebounding effort, coming down with 12 rebounds.
Contrarily, Lowery led the Tigers in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Next, Stony Brook will return home to Stony Brook Arena on Thursday to host the Campbell Fighting Camels. The Camels have gone 8-11 this season and 3-3 in CAA play. They are coming off a dominant 81-58 win over Monmouth. Opening tip-off is set for 7 p.m.