Jan. 13, 2004
Stony Brook, N.Y. -
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The Stony Brook men's basketball team puts its two-game win streak on the line when it travels to Vermont for an America East matchup Wednesday night in chilly Burlington, Vt. It is the first meeting for the Seawolves against the 2003 America East champs, a team that SB has not beaten in five tries Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Media: Internet Audio: www.goseawolves.org
About Vermont: The Catamounts have won seven of the their eight games after a 71-62 road win over Maine. Vermont is a perfect 4-0 in conference play with three of the four wins coming away from home. UVM is led by 2003 America East Player of the Year, Taylor Coppenrath, who ranks fourth in the nation in scoring and is coming off a 41-point performance in his last home game against Northeastern. Vermont has another America East Player of the Year in T.J. Sorrentine who took home 2002 honors. Sorrentine had a team-high 19 points in the win against Maine.
About the Seawolves: Stony Brook, winners of two in a row, head to Vermont looking to defeat the Catamounts for the first time. It will look to leading scorer D.J. Munir (16.1 ppg.) to carry the load and hope for Cori Spencer (17.5 ppg. in his last four) to continue his fine play in order to knock off the defending America East champs.
Stony Brook gets big contributions from freshman Mike Popoko and Mitchell Beauford. Popoko has been a consistent force for the Seawolves with a 7.5 ppg. and 4.4. rpg. average. Beauford is one of the top newcomers in the conference. He ranks second on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg.) and second among all conference freshmen. Beauford also ranks in the top five in steals per game.
Vermont vs. Stony Brook: Vermont has clearly had the upper hand in this series, winning all five meetings between the two schools since SB joined the America East. The Catamounts swept the season series from the Brook last year and won all three matchups (including conference tourney) in SB's first season in the conference. UVM is 2-0 against SB at Patrick Gym.
Streaky: After snapping a five-game losing streak with a win over UMBC, the Seawolves have now won two straight to level their conference mark at 2-2. It is the earliest that SB has been at the .500 mark since joining the America East. The Seawolves began conference play last year at 0-4 before reeling off five straight wins.
Comeback Kids: Stony Brook has come from behind in four of its five wins this season.
Big Man On Campus: Cori Spencer powered Stony Brook to a pair of wins last week. He averaged 19 points and 6.0 rebounds in two wins last week. On Sunday, Spencer shot 6-for-8 from the field and 9-for-11 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 21 points. In his last four games, he has averaged 17.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
If It's For For Free, It's For Me: Stony Brook has cashed in at the free throw line this season. The Seawolves are shooting .700 from the stripe and have five players who are shooting over 70 percent this season.
