Stony Brook Men’s Basketball had its six-game winning streak snapped after falling to Brown 71-69 on Saturday, Dec. 8.
Head coach Jeff Boals described the matchup as a strange occurrence for his squad.
“It was a weird game today,” Boals said in a press release. “It really came down to the hustle plays and 50/50 balls. To lose by two the way we played … it came down to one possession where we could’ve done something different. But Brown, the way they played, they deserved to win today.”
Down by three with just a second on the clock remaining, senior guard Jaron Cornish stepped to the free throw line after an intentional foul by Brown. Cornish nailed his first shot but missed the next one, sealing the matchup to give Stony Brook its second loss of the season.
The Seawolves broke out of the gate early with a 19-11 lead eight minutes into the matchup. Redshirt-sophomore guard Andrew Garcia nailed a three-point bucket to extend the Seawolves lead to eight with 12:25 remaining. Redshirt-junior guard Akwasi Yeboah scored nine of the 19 points scored early on, including the game’s opening points with a three-pointer.
Brown followed the early Stony Brook push with an 8-0 run in the next 2:23. The run closed the lead to just a single point. The Seawolves scored four more points, but the Bears caught up and tied the game at 24. The team later took the lead 25-23 with less than five minutes left in the first half.
This would be the last time the Bears relinquished the lead in the matchup.
Heading into the second half, Stony Brook faced a 35-30 deficit. The team was shooting a decent 40 percent from the field, yet Brown led in the two categories that Boals deemed the most vital for the team’s victories — rebounding and free throws. The team was out-rebounded 26-13 by Brown, with eight of the 26 being offensive and shot just 25 percent from the free throw line on four shots.
Yeboah got things going for his team with a jumper to close the Brown lead to one possession. However, Brown made another push of their own. There were several instances where Stony Brook closed in on the lead. Sophomore guard Corry Long closed the lead to two with 10:19 left in regulation, which was followed by a jump shot by freshman guard Miles Latimer 2:14 after to close the gap to one. Latimer finished the matchup with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.
Despite the superb performance by the Seawolves, the Bears would answer to every threat to their lead with a run of their own. Latimer nailed another crucial three-pointer with 1:04 left to keep the Seawolves within four, yet the Bears held on to the lead for the victory.
The Seawolves’ record now sits at 8-2. The team returns home to face LIU Brooklyn on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.
