STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook men's basketball team never trailed in the game as it topped UMBC at Island Federal Credit Union Arena, 83-73, Wednesday night. Stony Brook (11-9, 6-1 AE) allowed the Retrievers (13-7, 4-3 AE) to get back within a point in the second half, but the Seawolves responded when they needed to and held on for the win.
 
Boals' Reaction
"I'm really proud of our guys for competing for 40 minutes, and I was happy they responded the way they did after a loss," said head coach Jeff Boals. "[UMBC] cut it to one in the second half, but we're battle-tested, we've been in a lot of close games, and our guys didn't break. I think that's a sign of a pretty mature team."
 
Highlights

• The Seawolves set the tone early on leading by as many as 21 points in the first half and held a double-digit lead for most of the opening period.
• Senior Lucas Woodhouse (Greenlawn, N.Y.) scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, while redshirt freshman Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) also reached double figures as he added 11 point off the bench.
• Despite holding their largest halftime lead of the season, up 15 on UMBC at the break, it was slow-going for the Seawolves to begin the second half.
• The Retrievers strung together a 16-1 run in the early minutes of the second half to get back within single digits. They were able to make it a one-point game after Joe Sherburne knocked down a three with 12:59 on the clock.  
• Junior Bryan Sekunda (State College, Pa.) landed his first three of the night from the far corner to make it a two-possession game just inside the 12-minute mark.
• A three-point play by junior Tyrell Sturdivant (Chester, Pa.) with 4:38 remaining in the game put the Seawolves up 12. They maintained a double-digit lead for nearly the remainder of the game, not allowing UMBC to get any closer than eight.
• The Seawolves made 16 foul shots in the final four minutes of play.

Notes

• Stony Brook has come out on top in seven of its last eight games.
• Woodhouse, who leads the nation in free throw shooting, went 9-for-9 from the line against UMBC and is now 28-for-28 from the free throw line in America East play.
• Yeboah finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, notching the first double-double of his career.
• Junior UC Iroegbu (Sacramento, Calif.) also gave the Seawolves a lift off the bench, scoring six of his 12 points from the free throw line and grabbing five rebounds.
• After going 0-for-6 in the first half, Sturdivant continued to work in the second half and finished with 16 points in the game.
• Stony Brook was able to keep the Retrievers below their average of 81 points per game, limiting them to just 8-of-28 shooting from beyond the arc despite entering the game shooting 40-percent from three-point range.

Up Next
The Seawolves remain at home this week as they host Vermont, which sits at 7-0 in league play, on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.