Two years ago, the men’s basketball team won the America East regular season title for the first time. It followed that by hosting the first post-season basketball game in Stony Brook Division-I history, a National Invite Tournament game against Illinois.

And on Saturday, the Seawolves men’s basketball team will host the No. 2 Vermont Catamounts in the America East championship game, with the conference championship and the resulting NCAA tournament bid on the line. But first, the Seawolves have to get past the Catamounts, which could prove difficult in itself.

Last weekend, the Seawolves barely scraped through the quarter and semifinal rounds of the tournament with wins over No. 9 Binghamton and No. 4 Albany.On Saturday, the Seawolves relinquished a lead to the Bearcats in the second half, only to pull away and win by a 78-69 score.Then on Sunday, it took a last-second tip from senior Dallis Joyner to send the Seawolves through, as Joyner scored with 0.4 seconds left in the game to break a 55-55 tie.

Now, the Seawolves face a very tough Catamounts team that has survived the trap of the America East tournament, outlasting the resilient Hartford Hawks, who had already upset No.3 Boston University, beating the Hawks in double overtime, 77-73.Vermont had four players score in double digits, led by Sandro Carissimo with 18. Four McGlynn had 16 points for the Catamounts, including four three-pointers. Both will have an impact for Vermont, who was one of the two teams to beat Stony Brook in the America East regular season.Senior captain Bryan Dougher, who already holds the record for three-pointers made, will almost certainly break the Stony Brook Division-I scoring record, as he is just two points away from the 1,590 points scored by D.J. Munir, who played for Stony Brook from 2000-04.
It does not hurt, either, that the game will be at home, where the Seawolves have yet to lose. All 13 home games, while played in Pritchard Gymnasium and not in the Arena, which is downstairs, have been wins for Stony Brook, which joins the likes of Syracuse, Kentucky and Michigan State in being undefeated on home court this season.

The championship game is scheduled to tip off at 11 a.m., and will be aired live on ESPN2.