The Stony Brook University men’s basketball fired on all cylinders on Sunday afternoon as it conquered the University of Albany Great Danes, winning its seventh home game in a row for the season, its fifth game in a row and its third conference game in three games.
It was a scoring showcase, one in which the Seawolves would achieve victory by a 81-68 margin. Seniors Bryan Dougher and Dalis Joyner scored 19 and 15 points respectively. Sophomore Anthony Jackson scored 11 points.
However, to those more closely involved, the offensive production was not the most important part of the game.
“It was all about defense,” said head coach Steve Pikiell. “You hold them 20 [shooting percentage] points under their average; that is how you win the game.”
Also important was the effort provided by Stony Brook’s reserves on the bench, who would outscore that of the Great Danes by a 25-4 margin.
“I think it was just pressure to be a hunter,” said Jackson, who would make three consecutive three-pointers for the Seawolves in the first half. “Our second wave off the bench did what it was supposed to do today.”
Pikiell would also have supportive words for his bench players.
“They’ve been a key,” he said. “They came out in attack mode. They don’t get as many trips to the plate as they’d like, but when they get there, I want them swinging.”
Despite the efforts of the Seawolves, not every Great Dane could be completely contained on defense. Junior guard Gerardo Suero, one of Albany’s best-known players, would score 28 points on the day, dish out five assists and bring down four rebounds, all of them on offense.
The two teams edged each other at the start of the game, but then the Seawolves started an impactful seven-point run eight minutes into the game. From that point, Stony Brook would go on a scoring frenzy for the rest of the half while preventing the Great Danes from doing the same. The bench would score 23 of Stony Brook’s 44 points by halftime.
“Our depth is our biggest asset as a team,” Dougher said after the game.
The bench’s effort would not only be a feather in the cap of the players who contributed but would also give a boost to the rest of the team.
“It helped us a lot,” Joyner said. “It opened us up in the middle.”
For a great portion of the second half, Stony Brook kept the Great Danes at a safe distance, refusing to allow them to make any inroads into the scoring deficit.
“It felt good,” Joyner said. “Nobody should be more hungry than us.”
However, as the game time began to wind down, so did the scoring difference, and it looked for a short time that the Great Danes might have tied the game.
But the closest that they would get would be within nine points of the Seawolves, who would be able to finish off another victory.
Stony Brook will next play on the road against the University of Maryland Baltimore County on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
