The Stony Brook men’s basketball team fell to 6-8 on the season after losing to Cornell on Saturday afternoon. The Big Red improve to 4-10 and 2-3 against America East teams.
One bright spot for the Seawolves was the fact that they held the Big Red under its season average in scoring, but shooting only 34.8 percent from the field was a big reason they fell 60-52. “We played well on defensive again, but we continue to struggle with our shots,” head coach Steve Pikiell said after the loss.
The entire game was a defensive battle with both teams combining for just 33 field goals. The key for Cornell was their decent three-point shooting, which accounted for 35 percent of their points. They shot 7-25 (28 percent) from three-point range, whereas Stony Brook only shot 2-13 from behind the arc.
With Stony Brook trailing at halftime 24-19, they were able to open the second half with four straight points to move to within one. A long two-point jumper by Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and a pull-up jumper by Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) with a hand in his face were able to keep the score close at 24-23.
The Big Red were able to get key three pointers from Chris Wroblewski and Drew Ferry to stop the Seawolves from getting any more momentum.
Anthony Mayo (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit a mid-range jumper to bring the Seawolves within four, 43-39, with just over seven minutes left to play. Cornell was able to answer with Wroblewski dishing a dunk to Aaron Osgood and then hitting a layup, before Adam Wire sank a jumper with 4:55 left to play. This was Cornell’s largest lead of the game, 10 points, with the score 49-39.
The Seawolves were able to get within six later after a Dougher three-point play, but Cornell hit two free throws to go back up eight. Cornell was 7-8 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of the contest.
Wroblewski had a career-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 4-for-6 from three-point range, and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Dougher led the way for Stony Brook with 12 points and Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Dougher failed to hit a three-pointer, which ended his consecutive game with a three-pointer at 24 games.
Both teams committed a lot of fouls, with Stony Brook being called for 24 and having one player foul out. Cornell was called for 21 and had two players foul out.
Stony Brook’s next game is Monday evening at Binghamton, as the Seawolves resume their second half of its tour of Upstate New York. The game will be televised live on MSG-Plus with Eric Frede and Frank Sullivan. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN3.com, but is subject to blackout in the New York region.
