
Despite the best performance in the young career of guard Collin O’Connor, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team could not contain the three-ball to remain winless in road conference matchups.
The Seawolves (5-18, 1-9 CAA) made the trip to North Carolina to face the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks (18-5, 8-2 CAA) on Saturday night. A 27-point outburst by O’Connor was met with 11 three-pointers and 52.4% shooting from beyond the arch by UNCW, who handed Stony Brook a 80-70 defeat.
The Seawolves jumped out to a strong start early in the first half, as forward Andre Snoddy sank a three-pointer to open the scoring. On their next possession, guard C.J. Luster II was fouled behind the arc while attempting a shot, resulting in three free throws. Luster II sank them all to put Stony Brook up six just 42 seconds into the game.
From there, the sides traded threes. UNCW guard Donovan Newby and forward Sean Moore knocked down a shot from deep each to tie it up, before forward Nick Woodard responded with a three-pointer of his own to give the Seawolves a 9-6 advantage.
However, the Seahawks imposed their will offensively after the early deficit, sinking Stony Brook. Five straight points from guard Nolan Hodge swayed the momentum to UNCW’s favor. Hodge was complimented by guard Greedy Williams, who put the exclamation point on a 14-2 run by the hosts by weaving in-and-out of Stony Brook’s defense before floating the ball in.
While a pair of jumpshots from Woodard drew the Seawolves to within four, their defense could not buy a stop. The lead quickly ballooned to 16 points after a ferocious dunk from guard Noah Ross with 4:48 left in the half. Down the stretch, O’Connor delivered some much-needed offense for Stony Brook — including a tough, mid-range jumper with just seconds remaining on the clock — to make it a 42-31 game at the halftime break.
The Seawolves did not go down without a fight in the second period. Spearheaded by Luster II and O’Connor — who took turns commandeering the offense to open the frame — Stony Brook remained in the fray. Luster II scored the first eight points for the visitors out of the break, including a pair of threes. He also set the stage for his backcourt duo — O’Connor — who finished under the basket to cut the Seahawks’ advantage to seven.
After UNCW responded with yet another make from beyond the arch — this one courtesy of Hodge — the Seawolves inched closer as O’Connor racked up eight points in just over a minute of play, making it a four-point contest.
However, despite O’Connor’s heroics, the seemingly inevitable struck when the Seahawks’ red-hot offense put the nail in the coffin with an 11-2 stretch. For the remainder of the affair, they were successful from all three levels, consistently responding to O’Connor’s offensive arsenal en route to a sixth consecutive victory.
Stony Brook posted a .421/.360/.650 shooting line with 10 turnovers. However, although solid, that mark was no match for UNCW’s .568/.524/.704 triple slash, to go along with 12 giveaways.
O’Connor led the charge for the Seawolves, putting up a career-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, including 3-for-7 from deep. He also knocked down all six of his free throw attempts.
Luster II continued his strong campaign with 15 points. Woodard had one of his best outings as a Stony Brook player, contributing 14 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting mark.
Guard Joe Octave was absent for a third straight contest.
Conversely, the Seahawks had four double-digit scorers: Newby (20), Williams (15), Hodge (12) and guard Bo Montgomery (12).
The Seawolves will return home next to face the Towson Tigers on Thursday night at Stony Brook Arena. The Tigers are 14-9 overall and 9-1 in Coastal Athletic Association play after a narrow 55-54 win over Drexel. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 6:31 p.m.