Much has been written about the men’s basketball team this season. At 15-12 overall and 7-7 in America East play, the Seawolves have blown past expectations and anything they’ve previously accomplished as a Division-I basketball team.
The Seawolves will most likely enter the America East Conference Tournament on Mar. 7 as a favorite, probably the fourth seed.
After their previous game against Boston University, Coach Pikiell was asked about how beating a team like the Terriers would help the confidence of his young players.
He let it be known that his team is already fully confident, sometimes needing what Pikiell called a “dose of no-confidence.”
That over confidence is the only thing that can hold the Seawolves back before the tournament.
Stony Brook travels to Hartford tonight to play the Hartford Hawks, and finish off the regular season Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire.
When Hartford visited Pritchard Gymnasium on Jan. 25, the Seawolves defeated them by a score of 72-63.Hartford has not won a game since Jan. 14, mired in a 12 game losing streak.
Tonight’s game also has a chance to be historical for two of the Seawolves freshmen.
With three points Bryan Dougher will set the all-time school record for points scored by a freshman. Forward Tommy Brenton needs just seven more rebounds to set the school’s Division 1 record for rebounds in a season.
New Hampshire, one of three teams sitting right behind the Seawolves in conference play — along with Albany and UMBC — with a record of 6-8, should be a tougher challenge for Stony Brook.
In their only other meeting this season at Pritchard, the Seawolves led the Wildcats 34-25 at the half.
But the second half was a complete 180-degree turn. The Wildcats outscored the Seawolves 46-26 in what was one of the worst 20 minutes Stony Brook has played all season.
Senior guard Eric Gilchrese burned the Seawolves with big shots. Gilchrese, who had sat out the previous 12 games, shot the lights out ala Michael Tyree and scored 22 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Overall New Hampshire shot 12-25 from three-point range.
Besides the four-overtime game against Boston University, the 71 points scored by the Wildcats was the second most points the Seawolves allowed in conference play.
Stony Brook has already proved that it can hang with any team in the America East. The key will be to not look past these final two games against teams behind them in the standings and to properly prepare for the beginning of the tournament in Albany in just nine days.
