In the final game of the regular season, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team finished on a high note with a wire-to-wire victory.
The Seawolves (8-23, 4-14 CAA) hosted the Elon Phoenix (17-14, 8-10 CAA) on Saturday night to close out the regular season at Stony Brook Arena. Stony Brook nearly saw an early lead slip away from it in the final minute, but guard Collin O’Connor sealed the 71-66 win with a game-winning block in the final seconds.
The Seawolves came out of the gate hot, taking an early 10-4 lead with 13:48 remaining in the first half. Forward Nick Woodard capped the run with a wide-open, right-corner triple as Elon played a full-court press defense.
Elon guard T.K. Simpkins worked his way into the paint for a layup, cutting down Stony Brook’s lead to a possession with 11:46 remaining. Guard C.J. Luster II put an end to the Phoenix’s window of opportunity with a left wing three-pointer plus a foul to make it 14-9.
From that point on, Luster II went on a hot streak as he sidestepped an Elon defender for yet another three-pointer. Forward Andre Snoddy followed in Luster II’s lead as he grabbed a defensive rebound off a Phoenix miss for a fastbreak layup to give his team a 19-11 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half. Snoddy’s basket propelled him past the 1,000-point milestone for his career.
“Being from Long Island and playing in front of my whole family and support system, it feels amazing to do it at home in the final game of the season.” Snoody said in a postgame press conference.
Luster II finished off the 10-3 Stony Brook run with his third three-pointer of the first half and a right wing pull-up jumper for a 24-14 lead with 9:43 remaining before halftime.
“Any small separation that I can get is a shot,” Luster II said. “I am confident in myself, knowing that I can make that shot.”
Stony Brook continued to build on this lead for the remainder of the first half. Luster’s right-wing three-pointer rattled out, but forward Quin Gorman soared in for a put-back dunk. Simpkins hit a layup in the paint to cut into single digits 38-29 as the first 20 minutes came to a close.
The second half started much like the first, with Stony Brook not letting up on Elon. Forward Leon Nahar extended the lead to its largest margin of the game with a top-of-the-key three-pointer to make it 53-35 with 13:55 left.
However, the Phoenix slowly began to chip away at the lead over time. With 4:07 remaining in the game, forward Brayden Crump knocked down a pair of free-throws to cut the deficit to single digits. This sparked a 7-1 run from Elon as forward Sam Sherry dunked over forward Ben Wight to cut the lead down 67-61 with 2:11 left to play. Thirty-second later, Snoddy was bringing the ball up the court and turned the ball over to Simpkins who led the charge in the fastbreak. Simpkins found Sherry at the top of the key and he nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to a possession, 67-64, with 1:43 remaining.
In the ensuing possession, O’Connor was fouled as he was making his way into the lane for a layup, sending him to the line. He knocked down his two free-throws, making it a 68-64 game with 49 seconds remaining.
Sherry worked his way in the paint, squaring against Wight as he nailed a driving layup to cut the lead down to two with 38 seconds remaining. O’Connor was fouled yet again on the inbound pass, but this time only converted one out of his two-free throw attempts to keep the game within reach for the Phoenix at 69-66.
In the ensuing possession, Sherry tried to work his magic yet again with a hook-shot to cut the deficit down to a single point, but the ball rimmed out resulting in Snoody grabbing the defensive rebound, forcing Elon to foul.
With 10 seconds left in the game, Snoddy missed a game-sealing free throw attempt, resulting in the Phoenix hurrying up the court, trying to get a shot off. Simpkins caught the ball in the left corner for the game-tying three-point attempt, but O’Connor swooped in with the game winning block. O’Connor was fouled during the block as well, knocking down his two attempts to seal the win on Senior Day.
“The blocked shot that [O’Connor] had was terrific,” head coach Geno Ford said. “It is one of the two best blocks that we have had all year.”
Luster II led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-12 from downtown.
Snoody was the second-leading scorer on the Seawolves with 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, with a team-leading five assists.
“I am taking what the defense has given me,” Snoddy said. “I am not trying to do too much especially when I get into the lane, a lot of them collapse, so I am able to make easy reads.”
Simpkins was the Phoenix’s leading scorer with 19 points, but did not shoot the ball efficiently, going 5-of-20 from the field and 1-of-10 from three-point range. Guard Andrew King had 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and went 5-of-7 from three-point range.
As the regular season concludes, the Seawolves now shift their focus to the Coastal Athletic Association playoffs, which begin on March 7th in Washington, D.C. Stony Brook enters as the 13th seed and will face 12th-seeded Delaware in the first round. Opening tip-off is set for Friday at 2 p.m.
