Nov. 9, 2006

The Stony Brook University men's basketball team opens up the 2006-07 season at Colgate on Friday evening. Second-year head coach Steve Pikiell's squad plays its first three games on the road with contests against Colgate, Cornell, and Penn State. America East Preseason All-Conference selection Mitchell Beauford will look to lead the Seawolves as they take on the Red Raiders for the second time in school history. The game will be broadcast live on WLIE 540 AM and streamed live on www.goseawolves.org. The game will also be video streamed live on the Colgate website at www.goColgateRaiders.com.

INTERNET

Live audio streaming can be found on www.goseawolves.org. Click on the listen link.

WATCH IT LIVE

Colgate will be video streaming Friday night's contest over the internet live. To view the game, visit the Colgate athletic website: www.goColgateRaiders.com and clicked on the All-Access Flash Ad and follow the directions. There is a $9.95 fee.

ON THE AIR

Ray Alexander will be calling the Seawolves action on WLIE 540 am, the Seawolves Radio Network. The game can also be heard live online at goseawolves.org.

Stony Brook Opens Up Season At Colgate

The Stony Brook men's basketball team opens up the 2006-07 slate with three straight games on the road. The Seawolves first contest of the season is Friday night at Colgate.

Versus The Red Raiders

• Stony Brook and Colgate met for the first time ever last season on January 2, 2006. The Seawolves notched their first victory of the 2005-06 campaign as they defeated the Red Raiders, 70-57. Mitchell Beauford dropped in a game-high 20 points as head coach Steve Pikiell won his first career game. Tre Cunningham and Bobby Santiago each chipped in with 15 points on the night. Cunningham set a new career-high in points and in rebounds with eight including four offensive boards, shooting 4-of-5 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Stony Brook dominated the boards, outrebounding Colgate, 40-30, for the game, including a 22-11 edge on the offensive glass.

Season Openers

Stony Brook is 24-20 all time in season openers. Since turning Division I in 1999, the Seawolves ar 2-4 in season openers with the lone wins coming against Sacred Heart in 2002 and Dartmouth in 2003. Those were the only two season home openers the Seawolves have had in the Division I era.

About Colgate

The Red Raiders open up the 2006 slate after going 10-18, 4-10 last season under head coach Emmett Davis. John Simon returns as the team's top scorer at 9.3 ppg. In their final preseason tuneup, Simon led Colgate over Waterloo, 67-54, with a game-high 18 points, including 16 in the first half, in an exhibition game Friday evening at Cotterell Court. Junior forward Kendall Chones added nine points for the Raiders, while sophomore guard Willie Morse picked up eight points.

Road Warriors

Stony Brook will play 15 of its 27 regular season games away from home this season. With a five-day road trip to upstate New York againist Colgate and Cornell, the Seawolves will log plenty of minutes on the bus the first weekend of the season. Last season, the Seawolves played just 10 home games are the second lowest total in Division I history, surpassing the nine home games that SB had during the 2001-02 season.

Pikiell's Second Year

Head coach Steve Pikiell begins his second season on the bench in 2006-07. Pikiell arrived at SB after four seasons as the Associate head coach at George Washington where he helped breathe life back into the program and see it capture its first Atlantic-10 title last season. Pikiell is no stranger to success. The former two-time captain at UConn advanced to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in his final two years and college and brought that air of accomplishment to the bench. Prior to GW, Pikiell served as an assistant at Central Connecticut State and was part of the most successful seasons in Blue Devil history, winning the NEC crown in and advancing to the NCAA tournament.

Beauford Best Yet To Come

Mitchell Beauford led the Seawolves in scoring in 2005-06 with 14 points per game and was selected as an America East Third Team selection. Beauford will look to lead the Seawolves again this season with his attack-the-rim mentality and was chosen as the first Stony Brook player to ever by named an America East Preseason All-Conference selection.

America East Preseason All-Conference
Jamar Wilson, Albany
Blagoj Janev, New Hampshire
Kevin Reed, Maine
Mitchell Beauford, Stony Brook
Mike Trimboli, Vermont

King Solomon

Senior Solomon Bamiro had a breakout season in 2005-06. Bamiro emerged as a threat last season as he averaged 4.4 ppg and 3.3 rpg for the Seawolves. Having previously only played 27 minutes in his entire career, Bamiro recorded one of two Stony Brook double-doubles on the season after a 11-point 12-rebound performance at Maine. He logged the fourth highest minutes per game, playing in 21.1 minutes of game action.

Hop On Pop

Senior Mike Popoko will look to lead the Seawolves this season with his versatile play. Leading the team in rebounding last season with 5.3 boards a game, Popoko has the ability to hit the three-pointer or post up down low.

Television Games

Stony Brook will play three games on television this season which will air on the Madison Square Garden Network. Viewers will be able to tune into games against Villanova, Hofsta, and Notre Dame, with the Wildcats and Pride visiting the Stony Brook Indoor Sports Complex. The Seawolves will take on the Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana.

Keep an Eye Out

Redshirt junior Ricky Lucas will make an impact in his first season at Stony Brook after sitting out last season after transferring from George Washington. Lucas was named by CBS Sportsline as the Player to Watch in the America East in the upcoming season and will be a jump start to the Seawolves offense.

Summer Squads

Three Seawolves spent time overseas during the summer. Ricky Lucas and Ryan Jones joined Stony Brook assistant coach Guy Rancourt on a tour of Scandanavia with the East Coast All-Stars. The squad went 5-1 on the trip and Lucas led the team in scoring with 16 points a game while Jones added eight. Emanuel Neto had an entirely different experience as a member of the Angolan National Team. Neto participated in the 2006 FIBA World Championships which were held in Japan. Neto appeared in six games, scoring two points, grabbing three rebounds against some of the best players in the world.

Stony Brook Picked Seventh

The Seawolves were picked to finish seventh in the America East preseason poll. The highest that SB has ever been picked has been fifth. Albany was picked as the preseason favorite to capture the league crown for the second straight year.

America East Preseason Poll
1. Albany
2. Maine
3. Vermont
4. New Hampshire
5. Boston University
6. Binghamton
7. Stony Brook
8. UMBC
9. Hartford

Plenty of New Faces

The Seawolves roster boasts nine new faces from last years squad, including three in the starting lineup. Freshman Eddie Castellanos and Brandon Hickson will see time at the point this season while freshman swingmen Kyle Wright and Marcus Robinson will provide plenty of excitment with their above the rim style of play. Big men Rio Pitt and Emanuel Neto also join the program and look to make serious contributions in the paint. After sitting out a season due to transfer regulations, Ryan Jones and Ricky Lucas look to get back on the court and provide for Pikiell. Senior Andre Vanterpool will also see plenty of time after redshirting last season.