GAME 12: STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES vs NJIT HIGHLANDERS |
LOCATION |
Island Federal Credit Union Arena | Stony Brook, N.Y. |
DATE | TIME |
Wednesday, Dec. 28 | 7 p.m. |
COVERAGE |
Live Stats | Watch Live |
GAME NOTES |
Stony Brook | NJIT |
TICKETS |
Purchase Here |
PROMOTIONS |
Dinner's On Us -- Details |
STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- The Stony Brook men's basketball team returns home following the holiday break to host the NJIT Highlanders. The Seawolves went 1-1 in the week before the break, playing a pair of road games, and will return to the road for two games following their clash with the Highlanders Wednesday night. Both teams were able to pick up wins in their previous outings as Stony Brook took down St. Francis on the road and NJIT knocked off Dean College at home.
NOTEWORTHY
- Stony Brook has limited itself to single-digit turnovers in three of the last five games, committing 10 or fewer on six occasions.
- Junior Bryan Sekunda gave Stony Brook a big lift off the bench in his return to his home state of Pennsylvania. He helped lead the way in the win at St. Francis with a season-high 17 points, including five threes.
- Senior Lucas Woodhouse matched his Stony Brook career best in scoring and set new season highs in rebounds and assists, finishing the win at St. Francis with 17, 9 and 9, respectively.
- Junior Saintel returned to the starting lineup at St. Francis and earned the first double-figure scoring game of his Stony Brook career. The junior finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
- Freshman Michael Almonacy put up the best numbers of his debut season, scoring 15 points in the game at Hofstra, adding three rebounds and three assists.
- Redshirt freshman Akwasi Yeboah returned to double figures, scoring 16 points in the win over Lehigh, and followed it up with a season-best 18 points against Rutgers. He earned America East Rookie of the Week honors for his play.
- Tyrell Sturdivant has adjusted well to his new role this season. He hasn't missed a start this year, leading the team in rebounding and ranking second in scoring.
- The Seawolves have had the same or fewer turnovers than their opponent in nine of the ten games this season.
THE OPPONENT
The Highlanders recently snapped a four-game skid before the holiday break. They topped Dean College, a Division III opponent, 92-50 at home. Prior to the victory, NJIT nearly had Temple on the road, tied with the Owls in the final minute of play, but Temple was able to claim a 68-63 win in Philly.
NJIT is 6-8 on the season, but just 1-7 on the road so far. The Highlanders are led by senior Damon Lynn, who has scored in double figures in 28 straight games, and surpassed the 20-point mark on nine occasions this season.
THE SERIES
Stony Brook leads the series with the Highlanders, 5-0. The two teams first met in Newark, New Jersey, in 2006, as the Seawolves claimed a 65-61 road win. Stony Brook and NJIT met in each of the next three seasons, and most recently matched up last year, as the Seawolves topped the Highlanders 83-61 on the road. This marks the fifth meeting between the teams in the month of December. The lone November meeting was played in Stony Brook in 2009.
LAST TIME OUT
Stony Brook picked up a 75-63 win at St. Francis to head into the holiday break on a high note. The Seawolves didn't allow a bucket in the first three minutes of the game and used steady production to distance themselves early. They led by double figures for the majority of the first half, but the Red Flash closed it out on a 10-2 run to get back within six at the break.
Senior Lucas Woodhouse had a big first half, putting up 14 points, while junior Junior Saintel, who returned to the starting lineup against the Red Flash, scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in the opening period.
The Seawolves allowed St. Francis to get back within five early in the second half, but 11 straight points from junior Bryan Sekunda, including three makes from beyond the arc, allowed Stony Brook to match its largest lead of the day.
St. Francis got the difference back to single digits with 5:09 to play, but another three from Sekunda with 1:01 on the clock got the Seawolves' lead back above 10, and the Red Flash were only able to connect two times in the final minute of play.
TRIO LIFTS SEAWOLVES PAST ST. FRANCIS
Top performances from Lucas Woodhouse, Junior Saintel and Bryan Sekunda helped the Seawolves pick up a win before the holiday break. Woodhouse neared a triple-double as he finished with 17 points, nine assists and nine boards. Sekunda went off in the second half to score a season-best 17 points, including five threes. Saintel returned to the starting lineup and notched the first double-figure scoring game of his career with 15 points, and added six rebounds in the road victory.
YEBOAH NAMED AE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman Akwasi Yeboah earned the first America East Rookie of the Week honors of his young career for his play against Lehigh and Rutgers. He averaged 17.0 points and 4.5 rebounds through the 1-1 week for the Seawolves. After scoring a season-best 16 points, also adding six rebounds, in the win over Lehigh, Yeboah upped his number as he put up 18 in a nail-biter against Rutgers.
ALMONACY BREAKS OUT AT HOFSTRA
Freshman Michael Almonacy had a breakout game at Hofstra, going off for 15 points while also adding three assists and three rebounds. This was the first time this season the Long Island native has scored in double figures.
FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Senior Lucas Woodhouse leads the team and is second in the America East from the free throw line, shooting 91-percent from the line on the year. Woodhouse made 28 consecutive free throws through a seven-game span. He went 8-for-8 in the final 1:38 of the win over Northeastern, before setting a new career best the next game with 12 makes on 12 attempts against Lehigh.