STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook men's basketball battled back to within a possession late, but was unable to get by Hofstra, falling 84-81 at Island Federal Credit Union Arena Tuesday night. Junior
Jaron Cornish sparked the Seawolves in the second half, scoring 18 of his season-high 22 points in the final period. Stony Brook drops to 4-7 this season, while Hofstra moves to 7-3 on the year.
Boals' Reaction
"I thought that was a great college basketball game tonight," said head coach
Jeff Boals. "Based on how things went last year, I knew our guys were going to come out and compete hard. I was really proud of our effort. To be in that situation, down three with 4.8 to go, and have their best player on the line and he misses. Then for us to have a look like that, he had a great look at it and it just came up a little short."
Highlights
- Much like the start to the game, Stony Brook jumped out to an early lead to begin the second half. The Seawolves made it a seven-point game following a three from senior Bryan Sekunda (State College, Pa.) just after the media timeout.
- Stony Brook remained in control until an 18-4 run by the Pride through the midway point in the half gave Hofstra a seven-point lead of its own.
- Every time the Seawolves got back within a possession the Pride had an answer to add distance, until redshirt sophomore Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) knocked down three free throws to tie the game at 77-all with 1:57 to play.
- Hofstra went to the line the next time down the court, sinking three free throws of its own, and eventually went up seven with 25 seconds left in the game.
- Junior Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) made back-to-back buckets to get Stony Brook back within three with 11 seconds on the clock. The Seawolves were forced to foul in the final seconds and Hofstra missed both free throws, but Stony Brook's final shot did not fall.
Notes
- Cornish made it four straight games in double figures with a season-best 22 points.
- Sekunda went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc en-route to his second 20-plus-point performance of the season.
- Freshman Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) matched his season-high with 16 points, 10 coming in the first half.
Up Next
Stony Brook returns to the road this weekend, traveling to Providence on Sunday, Dec. 17 for a 2:30 p.m. game.
