Stony Brook enjoyed the thrill of a last-second victory in its season opener, but felt the bitterness of the other side in Friday’s loss to Hofstra. A Dion Nesmith fadeaway fell with 1.6 seconds remaining to give the Pride a 66-65 advantage, and the Seawolves could not connect on a fling at the buzzer.
Through and through, this was Stony Brook’s game to lose. SBU got great looks all night and the Seawolves’ defense was potent for the majority of the contest. In the end, it was a mountain of turnovers, missed open shots and poor late-game execution that doomed SBU.
Hofstra opened up shooting 0-5 from the field, but its zone gave the Seawolves trouble on the offensive end in the early going. Stony Brook turned the ball over six times in the first 10 minutes of the contest, a theme that would keep up until the final buzzer.
“We had a lot of turnovers,” Jameel Warney said. “If we just didn’t turn the ball over 19 times, it’s a few more shots we could get back up and it wouldn’t have to go down to the end of the game.”
It was looking like yet another poor outing for Warney after he missed his first two shots of the night, but he finished the half with three consecutive makes for nine points. Warney was aided by Deshaun Thrower, who had a big first half of his own, scoring nine points on 4-5 shooting with the offense in a rut.
Junior Rayshaun McGrew added eight points in the first half, giving the trifecta of him, Thrower and Warney 26 of Stony Brook’s 30 first-half points.
SBU shot 48 percent from the field, but it was the Seawolves’ 12 turnovers that kept the game close. A 9-2 run to close the period gave Stony Brook some cushion, with a 30-25 lead at the break.
In the latter half, the Seawolves tried to combat the Pride zone by launching from deep, but their shots were not falling. Junior Carson Puriefoy, normally a knockdown shooter, was 1-7 on the night from downtown. Roland Nyama had a couple of wide open looks, but could not connect.
Hofstra went on a 10-3 run from around the 17-minute mark to the 13-minute mark, taking a 45-42 lead, when Warney started taking over. Warney made eight of his nine attempts in the second half, including a stretch midway through the period in which he scored 10 straight points for the Seawolves.
“My teammates trusted me, got me the ball in better spots for me to score,” Warney said. “Just had one of those nights.” One of those nights being a 26-point, 14-rebound, two-block and two-steal outing with 4-5 shooting from the charity stripe.
Still, the Pride took full advantage of Stony Brook’s many giveaways, with numerous transition scores. The Seawolves clamped down though, going on a 9-1 run as the game wound down, eventually holding a seven-point lead with four minutes to play.
Then it all came crumbling down. Hofstra’s Ameen Tanksley buried a three, the Seawolves turned the ball over and guard Brian Bernardi knocked down a corner three on the break plus the foul, tying the contest with a free throw.
Pikiell turned to an offense/defense substitution pattern, with Kameron Mitchell, Nyama and McGrew in for stops and Bryan Sekunda, Scott King and Thrower in to try and score.
With the Seawolves leading by one with the basketball, King tried to find Warney on the block but the entry pass rolled underneath Warney’s reach with 46 seconds remaining. Tanksley blew by Nyama on the baseline for a reverse layup and the lead and the Seawolves called timeout with 20 seconds to play.
Puriefoy looped around two screens set for him on a curl play and lobbed it into Warney who scored inside with 9.2 to go. Out of the timeout, the ball fell into the hands of Nesmith on the left wing, who dribbled right to the middle with Nyama trailing, pulled up from the free throw arc and drilled the game-winning jumper with just over one second remaining.
“They drew up a great play. Kid jumped 14 feet in the air. Shot it over two guys. Roland’s athletic, he was defending it, and he made a great play,” Pikiell said. “Gotta give them a tip of the hat.”
The Seawolves returned home to avoid a three-game losing streak on Sunday, topping the Division III U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 89-54.
Stony Brook started the game on an 8-0 run, but an early turn to the bench would spark a USMMA comeback. The Mariners took their first lead of the night at 23-21 behind a barrage of threes with Puriefoy and Warney resting on the bench.
From that point on, SBU was in full control. The Seawolves closed the first half on a whopping 21-5 run, taking a 15-point lead at the break. Stony Brook kept its foot on the gas in the latter half opening on a 7-0 run and eventually going up by as
much as 39.
The large margin of victory gave freshmen Tyrell Sturdivant and Sekunda increased playing time, and both took advantage.
“Definitely a hard worker,” Puriefoy said of Sturdivant. “His attitude towards working hard, his attitude towards the games and practices is great. He’s funny off the court, he rings us all together. He’s a really important piece.”
Sturdivant had 11 points and 10 rebounds after a quiet debut against Hofstra and Sekunda shot 5-6 from downtown for 15 points.
The Seawolves look to win two in a row when they take on Western Kentucky on Tuesday.
“There’s times in every season when you have an off night or you feel tired, but today was like a mental game, a mental day,” Puriefoy said. “Tuesday, they’re going to test us physically. They’re a great team. We just gotta stick together. If we can do this together we can accomplish anything.”
