March 12, 2011

Final Stats

 

 

The Stony Brook men's basketball team's cinderella run to the America East Championship fell two points short as John Holland scored a game-high 27 points to lead Boston University to a 56-54 win over the Seawolves to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Leonard Hayes (Voorhees, N.J.) led Stony Brook (15-17) with 14 points. Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) and Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) each had 12 points. Hayes and Martin were both named to the America East Championship All-Tournament team. Holland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. 

"We've come so far as a program to get this far and get to a game like this," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I'm pleased with our team; we did a great job getting here when no one thought we could. But today our plan was to keep them off the free throw line, and we didn't do that. Give credit to BU, they won the game."

Stony Brook had played stifling defense in the first half, holding the Terriers to three points in the game's fist 12 minutes. Hayes nailed three three-pointers in the first half, as the Seawolves built an 11-point lead. A late BU run closed the gap to four, but Dougher finished off the half with a three-pointer to stop the momentum and send Stony Brook into halftime with a 30-23 lead.

Dougher continued right out of the second half gate with a three-pointer, a pair of free throws and a layup off a nice pass from Martin, who then sank back-to-back jumpers and gave the Seawolves their largest lead of the game, 15 points, 41-26.

However, that's when Holland came into play. He scored the next 12 points in the game to bring the Terriers all the way back and make it a one-point game, 41-40, with 10:31 left on the clock.

Stony Brook stayed out in front as Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) converted a three-point play. BU got within one again, but Joyner came up big once more with a layup at 7:55. At 6:51, Danny Carter (Windsor, England) dunked the ball off an in-bound play to put Stony Brook up five, 48-43.

The lead was six, 52-46, after Preye Preboye (Springfield, Mass.) had a outback off a big offensive rebound when the Terriers got to the free throw line eight times in the game's final four minutes while the Seawolves missed their final four shots. Holland tied the game with free throws at 1:03. On the ensuing possession, Dougher tried to split a pair of defenders on his way to the basket, but lost control and two players jumped on it, causing a jump ball and sending possession to BU.

In the waning seconds, Holland got the ball and went to the basket down the baseline from the right side. He slipped past one defender, and then drew contact from Joyner, earning a trip to the foul line. Holland, who was 10-for-11 from the charity stripe, sank both free throws with 2.4 seconds on the clock, and Dougher's half-court heave for the win clanked off the rim.

Despite the loss, Stony Brook will take away numerous positives from the 2010-11 season. The Seawolves reached their first-ever America East Championship final, despite going into the tournament as the No. 5 seed. The Seawolves had their third consecutive season of reaching .500 or better in America East play. Stony Brook will return 12 of this year's 13 lettermen and will re-gain the services of redshirt junior forward Tommy Brenton, who led the league in rebounding in each of his first two seasons of action. Under Pikiell's direction, Stony Brook's future appears bright.

 

 

2011 America East Championship All-Tournament team
Leonard Hayes, Stony Brook
John Holland, Boston University (Most Outstanding Player)
Genesis Maciel, Hartford
Chris Martin, Stony Brook
Darryl Partin, Boston University