HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Miles Latimer heated up from behind the arc at the right time for the Stony Brook men's basketball team.
Latimer drilled consecutive three-pointers in a 28-second span as Stony Brook erased a nine-point deficit midway through the second half.
However, host Hofstra ultimately eked out a 71-63 victory on Tuesday night in the Battle for the Island at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
"It was a good college basketball game," Stony Brook coach
Geno Ford said. "They made more plays the last four minutes than we were able to make. It was back and forth pretty much the whole time. Give them credit because late we couldn't quite knock in the big three. We had a couple of really good looks that just rattled out on us. And they were able to really hurt us on the offensive glass, especially down the stretch."
Stony Brook had trailed 54-45 after Hofstra guard Tareq Coburn drained one of the Pride's dozen three-pointers with 11 minutes, 1 second remaining in the game.
Elijah Olaniyi, coming off a career-high 30-point performance against Brown, then answered with a three-pointer at the other end and Latimer followed with consecutive treys of his own for a 9-0 run that pulled the Seawolves even.
Stony Brook eventually took a 59-57 lead on
Andrew Garcia's jumper with 6:32 left, but that proved the Seawolves' fnal time ahead in the second half.
Garcia contributed a double-double in the defeat, leading the team with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 12 rebounds.
Makale Foreman followed with 16 points.
Still, Garcia lamented the eight turnovers he committed during a 22-turnover night by the Seawolves (7-4). And Ford took it as sign of maturity that Garcia seized on that stat.
"Eighteen points is cool. Getting 12 boards is cool," Garcia said. "But the turnovers, that's what really killed us. I'm a big culprit in that."
Said Ford: "Drew's a man. ... Most kids have 18 and 12 and would feel good about themselves. And he's publicly blaming himself for eight turnovers. Now the coach can say that, and want them to say that. And I can think that. That doesn't matter. When you've got guys on your team that are men and take accountability for maybe not playing as well as they're capable, or even owning up to mistakes in an era when that's not normal, we haven't had teams like this. ... I want to jump out of the chair and hug him. That's why we're going to be good. That's why we've got a good team."
Ford also noted the Seawolves couldn't draw fouls in the paint, resulting in only seven free-throw attempts.
The Seawolves' exciting close to December continues Saturday when they face Providence, followed by a matchup at ninth-ranked Virginia next week.
And Ford believes his squad will be ready.
"That's a really good basketball team," Ford said about the Pride. "They were picked to win the CAA for a reason. We feel like we're going to be able to compete at the top of our league. Two good teams, and they were a little better down the stretch."
