The Stony Brook men’s basketball team ended its regular season in Burlington, Vermont on Saturday afternoon, falling to the top-ranked Catamounts, 66-51.
The game was of little consequence, as Stony Brook was already clinched into the No. 2 seed of the America East Playoffs. The loss dropped the team’s regular season record to 12-4, the sixth straight year with at least a dozen victories in the league.
On Wednesday, the Seawolves will host the No. 7 Binghamton Bearcats in the first game of postseason action.
Vermont made history with the win, becoming the first team since Drexel in the 1991-92 season to finish an America East conference schedule undefeated. Drexel now competes in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Senior guard Lucas Woodhouse struggled in the contest for the Seawolves, shooting 1-for-8 from the field, scoring just three points. The point guard was battling a sickness that began last week. In Wednesday’s loss to UMBC, he failed to score at all and did not play in the second half.
The sharp drop in Woodhouse’s production has hurt the Seawolves, who in the last two games recorded their first two losses by double-digits since a Dec. 13 blowout defeat to Hofstra. Over a 10-game stretch from Jan. 8 to Feb. 4, Woodhouse averaged 19.6 points, shooting at least 50 percent in each game.
The Seawolves had trouble guarding Vermont freshman forward Anthony Lamb in the paint. The conference’s leading rookie scorer notched 19 points, including 11 in the second half. Two other forwards, senior Darren Payen and junior Payton Henson, also scored in double-figures for the Catamounts.
Stony Brook played Vermont tight for the first 10 minutes, even taking a 19-17 lead on a junior guard U.C. Iroegbu’s three-pointer with 9:15 left in the first half.
But from there, the home team pulled away. Vermont went on an 18-0 run to go ahead 35-19 and Stony Brook never seriously challenged from that point onward.
Junior forward Roland Nyama had a strong game for Stony Brook with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Redshirt freshman forward Akwasi Yeboah added 11 points off the bench.
Wednesday’s game against Binghamton will tip off at 7 p.m. at Island Federal Credit Union Arena. The Seawolves and Bearcats split the pair of games against each other in the regular season, with the home team winning both.
Should the higher-seeded team win all four quarterfinal matchups, then Stony Brook will host third-seeded Albany on Saturday in a rivalry semifinal meeting.
