CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After a poor shooting first half, the Stony Brook men's basketball team bounced back with a 46-point second, earning a 68-63 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first game of the Islander Invitational at American Bank Center.
 
The Seawolves shot 45.7 percent from the field in the second period and made five of their last six free throws down the stretch to ice the game away.
 
FORD'S REACTION
"It was a tale of two halves out there tonight.  Corpus Christi was coming off a tough loss to Vanderbilt the other night and they played well for the bulk of the game.  It was encouraging to see us make some winning plays late.  I loved our unselfishness and that we played with only six turnovers."
 
FLOW OF THE GAME

• The Islanders hit a pair of threes inside the first six minutes, taking a 9-5 lead in the first half.
• Redshirt junior Andrew Garcia (Harlem, N.Y.) tied the game with 9:49 to play in the half, hitting a triple to knot the game at 15. He finished as one of three Seawolves in double figures.
• An 8-2 run quickly gave Corpus Christi a six-point advantage but Stony Brook was able to cut that in half heading into the break on a three by junior Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) and a layup from sophomore Miles Latimer (Fairfax, Va.).
• The hosts again came out of the gates strong, scoring seven of the first 11 points to go back up six.
• The largest lead of the half for the Islanders would be nine shortly after that but the Seawolves were able to rally.
• After Corpus Christi went up eight at the midway point of the half, Stony Brook took the lead for good on a 13-0 run that spanned 3:12. The Seawolves hit five of their nine shots during this run while holding the opposition to 0-for-5.

 
STATS AND NOTES

• Olaniyi cracked double figures for the 10^th consecutive game, finishing with a team-high 19.
• Junior Makale Foreman (Kingsport, Tenn.) added 17 and Garcia chipped in 15.
• The Seawolves defense forced Corpus Christi into 15 turnovers while only giving the ball away six times.
• Junior Mouhamadou Gueye (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished with a game-high eight rebounds, right on his season average. He also added the Seawolves' only three blocks.
• Freshman Tyler Stephenson-Moore (Port Washington, N.Y.) made his collegiate debut tonight, scoring five points in 14 minutes.
• After leading the country in road wins last season, the Seawolves earned their first of the 2019-20 campaign tonight.
• The Seawolves grabbed 15 offensive rebounds tonight, cashing in for 12 second chance points.

 
UP NEXT
It's a quick turnaround for Stony Brook, as they will play Texas-Rio Grande Valley tomorrow at 5 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. local) at the American Bank Center. It's the middle game of this three-game tournament.
 
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