The Stony Brook men’s basketball team (19-8, 13-2) went on an offensive torrent on Tuesday evening against the University of Hartford Hawks (8-20, 7-8), 74-50, scoring itself a victory in its penulimate game of the regular season.
“I thought we played a very good game against a hot team that’s dangerous on Senior Night,” head coach Steve Pikiell said, according to Stony Brook Athletics’ website. “I didn’t like how we were giving them open looks in the first half, but we made some defensive adjustments and limited their ability to score in the second half.”
While the Seawolves did their part in their campaign to win a second regular season title in three years, the Binghamton Bearcats (1-26, 1-13) upset the until-tonight top-seeded University of Vermont (19-11, 12-3). Vermont’s defeat means that Stony Brook is now in control of its own destiny going into its final game of the season. If the Seawolves defeat the University of Maine, the regular season title will be there’s along with at least a birth in the NCAA Men’s Basketball NIT Championship tournament.
As for the game at hand, Stony Brook wasn’t noteworthy in the first half. The two teams exchanged the lead seven times in the early minutes, neither allowing the other to build momentum. The first spark from the Seawolves came around the middle of the half when they went on a 10-0 run. It began as Stony Brook caputed a 13-12 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Anthony Jackson. Junior forward Tommy Brenton would follow him with seven straight points, giving his team a 20-12 advantage with 11:25 to play in the half.
The Seawolves led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but the Hawks refused to be put away too easily. They fought back, connecting on four three-pointers in the final seven minutes. Senior forward Dallis Joyner would make the last basket of the half, putting Stony Brook ahead 31-28.
The second half began with senior guard Bryan Dougher giving his team a sharp boost. He was a part of a 15-4 run that began to put the game already out of reach. He would have a game-high 17 points overall.
The closest that the Hawks would come to the Seawolves for the rest of the game came with 10:06 left in the game when they led by 12 points, 53-41. It was at this point that Stony Brook embarked on a 17-0 run. Hartford would not score for more than seven minutes and miss eight consecutive shots. Six Stony Brook players would contribute during this run of success.
Overall in the second half, the Seawolves would make 15 of 19 shots, 79 percent shooting from the field. For the entire game, they shot 61.9 percent from the field, making 26 of 42 shots. This is the first time that they did so since they defeated Columbia University when they shot 60.5 percent. Stony Brook also made eight of its 16 three-pointers and outrebounded the Hawks, 35-19.
Stony Brook’s final regular season game will begin at 12 p.m. on Sunday. On CBS Sports Network, the Seawolves will honor their four seniors: senior forward Danny Carter, Dougher, Joyner and senior forward Al Rapier.
