BALTIMORE, Md. – A career night from senior
UC Iroegbu helped lead the Stony Brook men's basketball team to a 64-57 win over UMBC at the UMBC Event Center Wednesday night. The victory moves Stony Brook to 12-17 on the season, 7-8 in league play, while the Retrievers now sit at 19-10 overall, 10-4 in the America East.
Boals' Reaction
"This team has been resilient, we talk all the time about bending but not breaking and we definitely did that tonight," said head coach
Jeff Boals. "If you look at [UMBC's] last five games, they turn people over and they score off those mistakes. Our guys found a way, though. We made free throws down the stretch like we have the last couple games and it was a great team effort."
Highlights
- Stony Brook controlled the momentum in the first half, scoring seven straight points early on and rallying for a 14-2 run inside the midway point in the period to go up double figures.
- Senior Bryan Sekunda (State College, Pa.) sparked the big run for the second straight game, as he knocked down a three with just over seven minutes until the break. The Seawolves followed it up with three more makes from beyond the arc and a layup by freshman Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) capped off the scoring spree.
- UMBC scored the final six points of the first half to cut the difference to eight, as the Seawolves led, 33-25.
- The Retrievers started the second half on an 11-3 run to tie things up at 36 with 16 minutes left in the game.
- Back-and-forth play ensued, as neither team led by more than a possession until there was 26 seconds remaining. Following the early tie, the game saw five more ties and 13 more lead changes.
- A layup by Olaniyi put Stony Brook up one as the clock ticked under a minute and a pair of free throws from senior UC Iroegbu (Sacramento, Calif.) made it a three-point game with 41 seconds on the clock.
- UMBC continued to foul late and the Seawolves did not miss from the line in the final minute.
Notes
- Iroegbu's game-best 20 points marked a career high for the senior.
- Redshirt sophomore Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) helped lead the way with 18 points, reaching double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games.
- Freshman Jordan McKenzie (Concord, N.C.) finished with a season-best six assists.
- Stony Brook's bench outscored UMBC's 29-8, marking the 21st time this season the Seawolves' reserves have dominated the opponent's.
Up Next
The Seawolves return home for their regular season finale, hosting Vermont on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
