The Stony Brook men’s basketball team’s season came to an end on Friday evening in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, dropping the game by a score of 75-63.
It was the best statistical season in Stony Brook’s Division-I history with an overall record of 25-8 with 13 victories on the road, the highest number in the nation.
Friday’s contest was also the last game in the Stony Brook careers of senior forwards Tommy Brenton, Ron Bracey and Leonard Hayes and senior guard Marcus Rouse. Brenton finished his collegiate career with 971 points, 1,115 rebounds, 405 assists, and 220 steals, the latter three being program Division-I records. Those total rebounds also tie Northeastern University’s Mark Halsel for third in America East conference history.
Three Seawolves scored in double figures for the game with freshman forward Jameel Warney leading the team with 17 points and junior guards Anthony Jackson and Dave Coley getting 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Stony Brook kept the game tight most of the way through the first half, seizing the lead for brief moments and trailing by only 37-34 at halftime. It remained a tight game in the second half until Warney tied the game at 41 apiece. From there, the Hawkeyes went on a 13-3 run to build a lead that they did not surrender. The 10-point deficit would be Iowa’s largest lead of the game.
The closest that Stony Brook got within striking distance of its opponent was four points when Jackson cut the lead to four with a completed three-pointer with an add-on free throw. Iowa quickly shattered any hopes of a come-back though and went on to take the game. It was only the sixth time this year that the Seawolves let their adversaries score more than 70 points in a game.
As Iowa advances to the third round of the NIT, Stony Brook will return home with the future to look forward to. Head coach Steve Pikiell has consistently remarked upon his team’s depth and the young players who have stepped up this year, and it is to those players that the gauntlet will now fall to.
