Orono, Maine – After ending the first half up 35-28, the Seawolves looked ready to take their final game of the season on the road. Coming out of the locker room, Maine turned things around starting with a running lay in by Chris Buff which triggered a 13-5 spurt. The run would tie the game at 43-43 by the 12:30 mark. With the momentum on their side, Maine would continue to outplay Stony Brook until they were up by seven with only 2:10 remaining.
‘We played hard and tough,’ said Seawolves assistant coach Dan Rickard, ‘It was a good game – we had some runs and they had some runs – but it came down to one shot.’
Entering the final minute, Maine led 63-58 before a Mitchell Beauford lay-in and free-throw. Up by a basket and with the ball, Maine ran the clock down 5 seconds before Chris Buff attempted and missed a shot from outside the arc. Ricky Lucas would pull down the board and dribble it up the court for a distant heave that just rimmed out as time expired.
For the Seawolves, Ricky Lucas led all scorers with 21 points and also pulled down 7 boards, along with Mitchell Beauford’s 16 points and 7 dimes and Mike Popoko’s 10 points and 7 rebounds. SBU ends their regular season as the 9th seed, with a 4-12 record in conference play and 9-19 overall.
Maine was led by Chris Buff with 19 points and 6 rebounds, one of four players to hit double figures. Maine ends their season as the conferences 4th seed, with a 7-9 America East record and 12-17 overall.
Maine won the game despite being out rebounded (29 to 35) and turning the ball over more times (14 to 11). Maine did connect for almost 49% of their shots in the game, while forcing the Seawolves into 41.7% shooting.
SBU’s nine wins are a huge jump from last year’s total of four, but show how far the program still has to go. All is not lost, though, with the America East Tournament coming this Friday. SBU will square off against Vermont in a battle between the 8th and 9th seed. The game decides who gets to play the top seed in the conference, Vermont, the following day (Saturday).
As assistant coach Dan Rickard said, ‘It’ll be tough; Hartford has beaten us twice this year. If we get lucky enough to win that, we play Vermont. Even though they are the top seed they’ve played some close games. Anything can happen.’
