In the time between the supposed end of the world and just about the end of break, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team had won seven of its past 10 games and was in sole possession of first place of the America East with a 6-1 record in conference play, holding a half-game ahead of the University of Vermont and a game-and-a half-ahead of the University at Albany, which have 6-2 and 5-3 conference records respectively.
In this time, the Seawolves had been on national television six times, playing three such games in a row against the University of Maryland, Seton Hall University and Manhattan College in late December and on New Year’s Day. Of those three, Stony Brook lost the first two and won the third.
In the first game against Maryland, it appeared as though the Terrapins were going to blow the Seawolves out as the Seawolves trailed the home team by 20 points in the second half.
Stony Brook was able to fight back to get within two points but could not tie the score.
Maryland won the game 76-69. Senior forward Tommy Brenton was just short of triple-double that evening with nine points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
A week later, Stony Brook nearly defeated Seton Hall and trailed by only one point in the final seconds of the game.
The final shot, a three-pointer, rimmed out, and the Pirates took a hard-earned victory.
In three days, the Seawolves won their final non-conference game of the season in a low-scoring affair with Manhattan.
They forced Manhattan to turn the ball over 17 times and to making only 34 percent of its shots. Stony Brook won the game 50-44.
Stony Brook continued to push on defense in its first conference game of the season against the University of New Hampshire, forcing its opponent to 30 percent shooting and 49 points.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Seawolves got 65 points and the victory with freshman forward Jameel Warney’s making 18 of those and adding four blocks for good measure.
The Seawolves would then take four straight victories against New Hamsphire, Binghamton University, Hartford University and Boston University by a combined deficit of 82 points.
In that span, the Seawolves averaged almost 69 points per game.
In the following game, however, Stony Brook suffered its first conference defeat while playing on the road against the University of Vermont, which defeated the Seawolves in the America East conference tournament final last year at Stony Brook.
The Catamounts took this game by a score of 81-73.
There would be no losing streak, however, as the Seawolves won their next road game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
In Wednesday’s game, junior guard Dave Coley scored a game-high 17 points and secured eight rebounds, two short of what would have been a double-double for the evening.
Stony Brook accumulated an overall record of 15-5.
