The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team fought back against the Monmouth Hawks, overcoming an 11-point second-half deficit to win, 51-49, in a game that started at 6 a.m. as part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
The Seawolves (2-1) didn’t bring their A-game in the first half. They struggled to get offensive rebounds, which has been a recurring problem in this young season. In the first half, they managed to only get five. Their game underneath the basket was hampered by an injury to junior forward Dallas Joyner (Norfolk, Va.).
Because of this, the Seawolves were forced to pull back for longer-range, lower-percentage shots. This might not have been a problem in the first half except that those shots weren’t dropping.
Even more puzzling, considering Stony Brook’s high scoring offense, was that they didn’t make a single three-pointer all half, and went just 2-for-16 from three point land in the game.
The Seawolves were in the bonus very early on, but went just two-for-nine in terms of free throws in the first half. Not unexpectedly, they played from behind for a large part of the first half.
They went into halftime with the score 24-20 Monmouth.
However, just as they had done on Sunday, the Seawolves came alive in the second half. Senior guard Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) opened up the scoring in the half with Stony Brook’s first three-pointer of the game.
But Monmouth would try to squash any hopes of a Stony Brook comeback and went on an 8-0 run to make the score 32-23 in their favor. Stony Brook made only five shots out of 17 during one stretch.
Then Stony Brook responded with their own 9-0 run. Within one minute, junior forward Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) scored four points to bring his team within two. But Monmouth wouldn’t surrender the lead.
That is, until senior guard Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) nailed a shot to tie the game a 46. Martin would continue to prove his weight in basketball gold when he gave Stony Brook a 50-49 advantage on two free throws with less then a minute to go. He finished with a game-high 13 points.
Monmouth would muster two more shot attempts, but they were both for naught. The first caught iron and was grabbed by Dougher, who was a immediately fouled and sent to the line. He hit his first, but the second spun out. Monmouth ran down the floor and chucked up a desperation three-pointer, which smacked off the backboard and fell harmlessly to the court, leaving the Seawolves the victors. Stony Brook is now undefeated in games starting at 6 a.m.
Stony Brook plays its next game at a more conventional 7 p.m. in Teaneck on Thursday, when the Seawolves take on Fairleigh Dickinson. It will be Stony Brook’s fourth game in a week since starting the season at the University of Connecticut on Friday.
