The team danced on the court, a blur of red and white as their red-clad supporters jumped in the stands, making the ground shake.
But it wasn’t the busloads of Seawolves fans that had made the hours-long trip to see their top-seed men’s basketball team play in the America East Championship semifinals. Instead, it was the #4 Boston Terriers who were celebrating a championship game berth.
Stony Brook overcame a 13-point halftime deficit, going on a 15-0 run coming out of the locker room in the second half, only to watch their lead evaporate down the stretch as the Terriers came back to win it, 70-63.
“We knew coming in it would be a tough game,” Seawolves Head Coach Steve Pikiell said. “It’s disappointing. We were one game short of our goal for the year.”
The loss knocks Stony Brook out of the championship tournament, but the team’s season isn’t over. By winning the regular season championship, the Seawolves earned an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. The selection show for the NIT will be next Sunday.
The Seawolves came out of the gates firing, as senior Muhammad El-Amin, who heard the criticism for not playing his best basketball against Albany, showed his Player of the Year form by knocking down three straight three-pointers to give Stony Brook a 9-3 early lead.
But it was downhill from there for the Seawolves. The Terriers’ Corey Lowe was relentless, getting 16 points including going 4-for-5 from three-point range. Boston’s Carlos Strong added 10 first-half points on 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Stony Brook struggled, shooting just 31 percent from the field and a very poor 33.3 percent from the free throw line.
“We’re a good free throw shooting team,” Coach Pikiell said. “I couldn’t tell you why we missed them tonight.”
After El-Amin’s hot start, Stony Brook could manage only 13 more points in the half. No other Seawolf scored more than three points in the first half. Stony Brook trailed by 13 at the break.
Sophomore guard Bryan Dougher said the team made a decision to bring everything they had in the second half.
“We knew we needed to step up the intensity,” Dougher said.
With the intensity picked up, Stony Brook was the dominating team they were all season, going on a 15-0 run from the start and eventually leading by as many as five.
But missed free throws down the stretch effectively killed the Seawolves championship hopes. Stony Brook shot 47.6 percent from the line in the game. Boston hit 70.6 percent of their free throws.
Even Dougher’s 13 second-half points couldn’t prevent a Boston comeback, as Lowe added to his tally at a furious pace.
Stony Brook held the lead until a Lowe three-pointer with 4:35 to go gave the Terriers a one-point lead. He would score five more in the second half, bringing his total to 24, leading all scorers.
“Lowe was terrific tonight,” Coach Pikiell said.
Boston saw out the game comfortably to a final score of 70-63.
Sophomore Tommy Brenton, who scored seven points and gathered 10 rebounds, gave credit to the Terriers.
“They came to play,” Brenton said. “They played really hard.”
The loss was Stony Brook’s second in three games, the Seawolves picking the worst time to be in poor form. Boston, however, is playing its best basketball at the end of the year, having won nine of its last 10.
The game sets up a matchup between #4 Boston and #2 Vermont for the championship game on March 14.
