LOWELL, Mass. – For the fourth time in league play the game came down to the final seconds, but the Stony Brook men's basketball team was unable to come out on top as it fell, 82-79, at UMass Lowell Wednesday night. Stony Brook is now 8-13 on the year, 3-4 in league play, while UMass Lowell sits at 8-12, 2-5 in the America East.
Boals' Reaction
"This was almost like New Hampshire all over again, and the disappointing thing is we were up six with 2:20 to go and we couldn't close it out," said head coach
Jeff Boals. "UMass Lowell is a good team and we knew we had to go out and get it, but once again free throws bit us and [UMass Lowell] made plays down the stretch."
Highlights
- The game was close throughout, seeing 12 ties and 22 lead changes through the 45 minutes of play.
- Neither team led by more than two possessions in regulation. UMass Lowell took a six-point lead in the opening minutes of the game, and the Seawolves were able to rally for seven-straight points late in the game to take a six-point lead of its own.
- Freshman Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) sparked the late rally and capped it off with a dunk in transition to make it a 70-64 Stony Brook lead with 2:29 to play.
- The River Hawks didn't back down and eventually hit a three with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 71 and Stony Brook was unable to get a final shot off.
- Junior Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) put the Seawolves back on top early in overtime, but UMass Lowell responded with seven straight points and held the lead for the rest of the overtime period.
Notes
- Redshirt sophomore Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) led the Seawolves in scoring for the ninth time this season, surpassing the 20-point mark for the seventh time.
- Olaniyi matched his season high for the fourth time with 16 points on the night.
- The Stony Brook bench out-scored the 15th time this season, 24-19.
- This was the second overtime game of the season for the Seawolves, they are now 1-1 in extra time under Coach Boals.
Up Next
The Seawolves will begin a four-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 27 as Albany comes to town for a 7 p.m. game.
