After losing to Boston College 82-75 and Maryland 77-63, Stony Brook men’s basketball team fell to 0-3 on the season for the first time since 2007.
In the final minute against Boston College on Sunday, Stony Brook was down, 74-67. While not totally insurmountable, it would be challenge to overcome. Junior forward Tyrell Sturdivant got things going fast, laying the ball up through contact to cut the Eagle’s lead to five and get the and-one opportunity. He made the free throw, the last point in a career-high 26 point effort, leaving a four point lead in favor of the Eagles.
However, the comeback fell through. Boston College capitalized on moments at the charity stripe, increasing the lead to eight, until Stony Brook redshirt freshman forward Akwasi Yeboah hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining.
But there just was not enough time on the clock. The Seawolves could not finish the comeback that they had started late in the first half.
Stony Brook was down 46-23 with 2:21 left until the end of the first half. The Seawolves were drowning. But senior forward Kameron Mitchell hit two free throws to bring it to 46-25. Junior guard Bryan Sekunda made a three to bring it within 20. Mitchell swiped the ball on the defensive end and passed it up to freshman guard Michael Almonacy, who scored a layup cutting the lead to 16.
Despite Sturdivant’s 26-point performance, despite the comeback attempts at the end of each half, the Jeff Boals era has yet to win a game. Tuesday’s game against Maryland was no different.
The freefall started early. Despite going back-and-forth in the opening minutes, Maryland pulled out to a 14-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half, a lead the team would maintain with five minutes left to go in the half.
Slowly, the Seawolves attempted to mount a comeback. Sekunda scored in the paint and Sturdivant hit two free throws to cut the lead to ten. Redshirt junior forward Roland Nyama later grabbed an offensive board and scored, bringing the game within 10.
Maryland recovered, pushing its lead back to 11 to end the half. However, senior guard Lucas Woodhouse came out the half with four consecutive points, cutting the lead to seven. But Terrapins guard Melo Trimble stopped any hopes for a comeback on their heels.
Not only did Tremble score 21 points to lead all players, but he also stole the ball from Woodhouse and dished it to guard Kevin Huerter on the fast break to make it a double digit lead once again. Tremble later hit a three-pointer with 4:10 left in the game to push the lead to 18, making a Seawolves comeback nearly impossible.
Stony Brook continues its road trip on Friday when the team takes on Towson at 5 p.m.
