Jan. 9, 2003

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The Stony Brook men's basketball team hits the road Friday morning in preparation for a Saturday matchup with America East foe Binghamton (6-6, 1-1). Heading into the weekend, the Seawolves (5-6, 0-2) are aiming to end a four-game slide that has seen them drop their first two conference games. Saturday's game will be broadcast on Island Talk WLIE 540 AM. Tip-off is 1 p.m.

BACKDROP: Stony Brook hopes to end its four-game skid and earn its first conference win of the season on the road at Binghamton.

RADIO INFORMATION: The game will be broadcast on Island Talk WLIE 540 AM.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Stony Brook leads the all-time series 22-13. The Bearcats took two-of-three from the Seawolves last year. SB's only win came at West Gym, a 66-62 triumph on January 15 of last year. D.J. Munir had 24 points to lead the Seawolves while JonPaul Kobryn added 19. SB has won the last two meetings in Binghamton.

VERSUS THE AMERICA EAST: Stony Brook posted a 5-11 record last year in its inaugural season of America East play. SB is 6-18 all time against America East teams.

LAST TIME OUT: Stony Brook led Hartford 27-26 at the half but the Hawks shot 62.5 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to hand SB its fourth straight defeat, its second in America East play. Stony Brook's defense was stingy in the first half, holding UH to 37.9 percent from the floor but gave way in the second, yielding 42 points. Four Seawolves scored in double figures in the loss, led by Cori Spencer's 14 points and eight rebounds. Bobby Santiago and Jairus McCollum each had 11 points and D.J. Munir added 10.

INJURY REPORT: Mike Konopka has sat out the last two games with a back injury. He is questionable for Saturday's game against Binghamton.

SCOUTING BINGHAMTON: The Bearcats are level at 6-6 following a convincing win over St. Francis (NY) on Tuesday night. Anthony Green, the team's top scorer, put in a career-best 32 points in the win. Green is averaging 17.8 points per game. Seven-foot center Nick Billings is a force under the basket. Billings blocked eight shots in the win over St. Francis. He leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game.

ON THE ROAD: Stony Brook is 1-4 on the road this season and has lost three straight. The lone road victory was at Columbia on December 4.

SECOND HALF "D": Contributing to the four-game losing streak has been SB's second half defense. He is a closer look at the opponent's shooting percentage in each of those games:

		        1st Half	2nd Half
Lehigh	      31.0 %	52.2%
Seton Hall   39.4 % 55.6%
Vermont	     37.0 %	64.0%
Hartford     37.9 %	62.5%

Stony Brook has been outscored in the second half in four straight games by an average of 10.3 points.

SEVEN AND SEVEN: Rookie Hendrik Feist collected seven points and a season-best seven rebounds against Hartford.

7-11: Junior Jairus McCollum put forth a strong effort on Wednesday night, recording 11 points and seven rebounds.

BIG C: Sophomore Cori Spencer came off the bench to score 14 points and grab eight rebounds against Hartford. It was his first double-figure scoring effort since the Lehigh game. Spencer is now shooting 60 percent from the field.

A HELPING HAND: Bobby Santiago is averaging 4.3 assists per game. He now ranks fourth in the America East in assists per game. He has led the team in assists in nine of the 12 games.

BOUNCING BACK: The Seawolves shot 43 percent from the field against Hartford. SB had dipped under the 40 percent mark in four straight games before Wednesday night.

HE'S A BIT FEISTY: Freshman Hendrik Feist made his first collegiate start on Sunday in place of the injured Mike Konopka. The rookie set new career highs as he drilled four three-point attempts in seven tries to finish with a team-high 12 points. Feist is shooting a lofty 54.8 percent from three-point range, converting 17-of-31 attempts.

MUNIR OFF THE MARK: Junior guard D.J. Munir has hit only six of his last 29 field goal attempts (.206). He is shooting 32.4 percent from the field on the season, 20 percent from three.

A RARE DOUBLEHEADER: Following Saturday's men's game, the Seawolves women's basketball team will take on Binghamton at 5 p.m.

SEARCHING FOR THE LOST ARC: SB has connected on only 16 of its last 70 three-point attempts (.228). The Seawolves were 2-14 from downtown on Wednesday night.

ON TV: The Seawolves are now 1-1 on America East telecasts after Sunday's loss to Vermont. SB will be on television again on January 19 when it host Albany.

HEY MISTER D.J.: D.J. Munir's 23-point effort against Hofstra earned him America East Player of the Week honors on December 23rd. He became the first SB player to earn AE Player of the Week honors since SB joined the America East last season.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: Forward Jairus McCollum ranks second in the America East in offensive rebounds per game and fifth overall. McCollum is the only Seawolf to start all 12 games this season.

THE 800 MARK: Munir's 23-point performance against Hofstra put him over the 800-point mark for his career, and his now stands only 144 points from the 1,000-point plateau. Stony Brook hasn't had a 1,000-point scorer since Larry Gibson finished with 1,002 in 1998. There have been 17 players to score 1,000 or more points in the program's history.