LOWELL, Mass. – The battle-tested Stony Brook men's basketball team held off the second-half surges of UMass Lowell to pick up its fourth straight win in conference play, topping the River Hawks 86-75 at Costello Athletic Center Monday afternoon. The win moves the Seawolves to 9-8 on the season and 4-0 in the America East. UMass Lowell is now 8-11 this year and 3-2 in conference play.
 
Boals' Reaction
"I'm really proud of our guys," said head coach Jeff Boals. "To start out the [conference] season with three-out-of-four on the road, and win three road games tells you a lot about who these guys are. UMass Lowell is a second-half team, so we talked about keeping our poise, we knew they would make a run, they made two of them and we withstood them both."
 
Highlights

• Stony Brook dominated the first half as junior Tyrell Sturdivant (Chester, Pa.) got off to a hot start, scoring the team's first seven points and hitting double figures in the first 4:10 of play.  
• Sturdivant didn't miss a shot in the first half, going 7-for-7 from the field, to score 16 points by the break.
• The Seawolves held UMass Lowell's leading scorer Jahad Thomas to just three points, all from the foul time, in the first half after he picked up a pair of fouls early on.
• UMass Lowell opened the second half on a 10-4 run to get back within three, 52-49, forcing the Seawolves to call an early timeout.
• Stony Brook used an 11-2 run to get the difference back to double figures, but the River Hawks wouldn't back down. They got it back within two with 5:57 remaining.
• Sturdivant responded with seven straight points as the Seawolves remained with the lead they had all game outside of the opening possessions.
• Senior Lucas Woodhouse (Greenlawn, N.Y.) scored nine of Stony Brook's last 11 points in the game to keep the difference in double figures. 

Notes

• Sturdivant finished with a career-best 28 points in the game, marking the third time this season he has surpassed the 20-point mark.
• The Seawolves notched their eighth game this season with single-digit turnovers, while forcing UMass Lowell into 15 mishaps. They scored 20 points off the mistakes.
• This is the third time in Stony Brook's Division I history it has opened conference play with four straight victories. Each of those coming in the last four seasons. 

Up Next
The Seawolves return home to host Hartford on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.