While the majority of the Stony Brook campus was away for the Winter, the men’s basketball team (11-7, 6-1) continued its schedule and began to play its conference opponents in the midst of a campaign to capture the America East championship. The Seawolves continued those efforts on Saturday when they met and defeated the University of Maine Black Bears, 58-52.
“This game was a grind on the road against a very talented Maine team,” head coach Steve Pikiell said, according to Stony Brook Athletics’ website. “We told ourselves that we needed a team effort to come away with a win, and that’s what we got. Ten players played, and they all contributed points. We rebounded the ball very well, and we forced them to make turnovers. I’m proud of the effort.”
The final rebounding total favored Stony Brook, who led the category with 43 to Maine’s 40. Some of the most crucial rebounds were on the offensive end of the court, where the Seawolves pulled down 17 and managed to get 12 points out of such opportunities.
Despite a difficult shooting game for both teams, there were some milestones on offense. Senior guard Bryan Dougher make three three-point-shots for the evening, giving him more than 300 for his career, a Stony Brook record.
Far more noteworthy, however, was the effort that the Seawolves made on defense. Maine came into Saturday’s game averaging 73.4 points per game, but Stony Brook forced them to shoot only 36 percent from the field and commit 22 turnovers.
The early goings of the game were dead offensively with neither team making a basket. Sophomore guard Anthony Jackson was the first to break the malaise with a three-point-shot. However, neither team would be able to muster any offensive prowess or build a lead. The Black Bears would go into halftime with the advantage, a 22-20 score.
However, Stony Brook fired back quickly in the second half, going on an 11-2 point run, six of those points coming from sophomore guard Dave Coley.
Maine refused to go down without a fight as Raheem Singleton hit back-to-back three-pointers, reducing the deficit to 31-30 in favor of the Seawolves. It was at this point, however, that Stony Brook began a run that would all but assure its victory. The Seawolves scored 17 points to the Black Bears’ five.
Despite Stony Brook’s consistent offense, Maine was able to fight back once more and come within four points of the Seawolves with the score standing at 50-46. But that would prove to be its last gasp of life as junior forward fired the ball to Dougher, who nailed one of his three-point-shots to push the lead to seven. From that point, the Seawolves coasted to another victory.
Stony Brook will now play at its home court for the next three games, the first of which will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday against the University of Hartford.
