Stony Brook got a big boost from their bench on Saturday, as they came away with a 78-68 road win against UMass Lowell.
The Seawolves got 49 points from their non-starters, as they improved to 10-2 against America East conference opponents.
Jameel Warney, who was surprisingly not included in the starting lineup, finished with a team-high 19 points.
The sophomore shot 7-of-13 from the field in 25 minutes of play.
Fellow sophomore Carson Puriefoy finished with 16 points off the bench, while also adding four assists.
Dave Coley delivered his first career double-double in the game, putting up 13 points, and grabbing 11 rebounds.
The game featured two very different halves for Stony Brook.
SBU’s strong defensive play stood out in the first half as they held the River Hawks to just 29.2 percent shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The Seawolves would take a 29-21 lead in to halftime.
Early in the second half the Seawolves would go on a 19-8 run to take command of the game.
They would lead by as many as 21 points.
UMass Lowell would begin to turn things around down the stretch.
The River Hawks got red hot from behind the arc, making six three pointers in the final nine minutes of the game.
A late three by Carlos Taylor would pull them within seven.
But, that would be as close as they would get, as time would run out for UMass Lowell.
Saturday’s game was noteworthy for Steve Pikiell as he picked up his 138th win as head coach of the Seawolves. The victory tied him for first all-time with Joe Castigle on the program’s head coaching victories list.
The reason behind Pikiell’s decision not to start Warney as well as freshman Ahmad Walker is unknown at this time.
Perhaps it was meant to be a wakeup call to the team, after they lost to a 6-19 New Hampshire team the Saturday before.
However, both players seemed to respond positively on Saturday night to the decision.
Warney put together an all around solid performance, and Walker finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.
Stony Brook out-rebounded UMass Lowell 41-to-31 in the game.
They also had 15 offensive boards that led to 21 second chance points. Coley finished with a team-high five offensive rebounds.
The Seawolves made 17-of-21 free throws attempts on Saturday.
This was a big improvement from their previous two games in which they shot 62% from the line as a team.
Since January 2012 Stony Brook is 38-6 in America East conference games.
The team is one win away from securing no lower than the No. 2 seed at the America East Championship.
This Wednesday Stony Brook will take on UMBC at the Pritchard Gymnasium. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m.
UMBC is coming off a 76-52 loss to Vermont on Friday night.
Before that, they defeated Albany 71-69.
UMBC is 9-17 overall, and 5-8 in conference play.
Stony Brook has four games remaining on their season. After UMBC, the Seawolves take on Maine, followed by UVM.
