In the first game of the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team fought an intense battle, ultimately losing in a continued fight until the end of the game.
The Seawolves (8-24, 4-14 CAA) played the Delaware Blue Hens (13-19, 5-13 CAA) to open the conference playoffs on Friday in Washington D.C. Despite trailing the whole game, Stony Brook made multiple comeback attempts — including a second-half run — but it was not enough to get the job done, resulting in a season-ending, 80-76 loss.
The Seawolves started the game off slow, allowing the Blue Hens to get an early 6-0 lead in the opening three minutes. Eventually, forward Nick Woodard put Stony Brook on the board by draining a three-pointer. In the following minutes, it was a back-and-forth affair, with the team exchanging layups and threes. With 11:40 left in the first half, forward Leon Nahar evened things up at 16 with a make from beyond the arc, before the sides continued to exchange blows.
However, Delaware came out on top in the ensuing sequence, with several players contributing to a 20-10 stretch in its favor. The Blue Hens continued their success from both beyond the perimeter and the paint, while Stony Brook, attempting to match their pace, struggled to convert on the offensive end. Thereafter, Delaware continued to build on its lead as the half dwindled, culminating in a 50-34 advantage after 20 minutes.
The Seawolves began the second period on the right note. Although Delaware guard Erik Timko kicked things off with a three-point play to go up by 19, Stony Brook responded swiftly with a 17-6 stretch. Guard C.J. Luster II — who shot just 3-for-10 in the first half — spearheaded one the team’s best moments of the contest with eight points during this run, including a pair of three-pointers.
“We came out at halftime and what we talked about was that we were just trying to win the first four minutes,” head coach Geno Ford said in a postgame press conference. “We weren’t giving big numbers. Our goal was to get it down to 12 at the 12-minute mark. That’s all we were trying to do.”
With the minutes continuing to come off the board, a strong effort on the defensive end allowed the Seawolves to continue chipping into the Blue Hens’ lead. After Delaware made it a double-digit affair once again, Stony Brook ripped off nine unanswered points — with all but three coming from the free throw line — to make it a one-point affair with 8:37 left in the final frame. To that point, the Blue Hens had shot 7-for-13 in the second half but had committed six turnovers.
Both sides struggled offensively from there, but the Seawolves — on the back of clutch baskets from forward Ben Wight and guard Collin O’Connor alongside a pair of makes from the charity stripe by forward Andre Snoddy — tied the contest up at 70 with 3:36 left to play.
However, Stony Brook could not keep the Blue Hens off the line in the following sequence. Delaware earned three trips to the stripe and went 5-for-6 while the Seawolves came up with a pair of empty possessions, giving it a 75-70 edge.
Still, the game was far from finished. Luster II put a stop to the Blue Hens’ 5-0 run with a made jumpshot. After Delaware guard Cavan Reilly responded with a jumper of his own, Luster II made a trip to the free throw line and knocked both shots to once again make it a one-possession affair. However, Stony Brook could not stop the Blue Hens in the all-important ensuing possession, as a foul from Luster II sent Timko to the charity stripe. He made both of his attempts, spelling the end to the Seawolves’ campaign as they were not successful in the intentional fouling strategy.
“Give Delaware a ton of credit,” Ford said. “First half, they played at a super high level, we couldn’t get them guarded. So, I can blame our defense, but at some point, they made eight threes; they had us spaced out, [and] we couldn’t keep the ball in front. They just threw it at the high post and power-drove us and got layups. I give our guys a lot of credit because I thought today was a reflection of who we’ve been all year. We struggled, we’ve not won as many games as the players would like. We certainly haven’t won as many games as the coaches would like. We were in a position where we could’ve folded up. We were down 20 and getting zero stops and we ended up having the ball three times to go ahead.”
Stony Brook posted a .509/.467/.682 shooting line with 11 turnovers. Conversely, Delaware registered a .558/.348/.824 triple slash along with seven giveaways.
Luster II — a 2025 All-CAA Third Team selectee — capped off his debut Division I year with 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including 4-for-9 from deep.
“We worked hard, we clawed back at the deficit,” Luster II said. “But it just didn’t go our way. We definitely fought to the end. We didn’t lay down like Coach was saying. I feel like we fought very hard.”
O’Connor — who was named to the 2025 All-CAA Rookie Team — posted 18 points on 7-for-11 efficiency.
The Blue Hens had five players — all of their starters — in the double-digits in scoring. They were led by Timko, who put up 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-for-8 from three.
The Seawolves will likely have another busy offseason. Guards Joe Octave — who missed the team’s last 12 games due to injury — Sabry Philip alongside Wight and Snoddy have exhausted their eligibility.
