Stony Brook’s men’s basketball team is back on the road Tuesday, traveling to New Jersey to face Monmouth University at 6 a.m. as a part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
After losing the season opener to UConn on Friday, the Seawolves bounced back on Sunday as they were able to defeat Mount Ida, 80-43. Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored 21 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the team. Senior Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) had seven points, seven rebounds, and a career-high five assists.
Stony Brook’s newcomers all had great games as well in their Pritchard Gymnasium debuts. Junior college transfer Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) had his first double-double as a Seawolf with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guards Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) and Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 10 points and four rebounds each. Freshman center Anthony Mayo (Philadelphia, Pa.) came up big on defense with four blocks to go along with his six points.
The Mustangs were held to just 14 points on 19.4 percent shooting in the second half.
Monmouth will be opening their season at home for a second straight year, and have experience playing early as they played in the “6 a.m. game” on ESPN last season. Dave Calloway is returning for his 14th season as head coach of the Hawks and 24th overall season with the program. He has 122 Northeast Conference wins, ranking him fourth all-time in league history.
Monmouth is returning seven letterwinners, four of which started a game last year.. Junior guard Will Campbell returns after a good sophomore season. He ranked second on the team and 20th in the Northeast Conference in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. Forward Ed Waite returns after being named to the Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team.
This will be the Seawolves’ first-ever appearance on ESPN. They will be waking up at 2 a.m. for breakfast and getting to the arena at 4:30 a.m. to start their pregame routine. Head coach Steve Pikiell said the early game will be a challenge but he doesn’t mind because of how big of an opportunity it is for Stony Brook.
“It’s exciting,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “I think it’s great for our university. People still don’t know what a great university this is. Anytime you get a chance to play on 24 hours of college basketball and play on the same menu as schools like Duke and Kentucky, it’s awesome.”
The fact that the game will be on ESPN is also added motivation for the Seawolves.
“Nobody in our locker-room has ever played on ESPN, so it’s exciting for us,” said Dougher, who said he will have family and friends attending the game as he is playing in his home state of New Jersey.
The Bench (located across the Stony Brook LIRR off Route 25A) is opening at 5:30 a.m. and is offering a breakfast buffet for just $8 for all who want to come out and support the Seawolves.
