STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The rivalry is back for another episode as the Stony Brook men's basketball team welcomes Albany to Island Federal Arena for a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday night. The Seawolves defeated Albany in overtime in the last edition in Albany this January.
Stony Brook's 21
stwin of the season came on Saturday, when they survived a three at the buzzer that clanked off the rim to defeat New Hampshire 66-64. Redshirt-sophomore
Andrew Garcia (Harlem, N.Y.) recorded a double double on the night, scoring 15 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Redshirt-junior
Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) added 15 points as well.
THE OPPONENT
Albany comes to Long Island after snapping a short two-game skid on Sunday afternoon, defeating Maine 63-54 in Bangor to improve to 4-7 in America East play and 9-17 overall. Cameron Healy led the way for the Great Danes, scoring a game-high 16 points on four 3-pointers. Adam Lulka chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds, while Ahmad Clark dished seven assists to go along with his 13 points.
Healy has been averaging just over 17 points per game in conference play this season, which is good for fourth in the league. Clark leads the way overall, scoring at a 16.7 per night clip this season.
THE SERIES
Albany has won 43 of the overall 76 meetings between the two schools in a series that dates back to the 1967-68 season. Stony Brook owns a 25-22 advantage in the Division I series, including wins in the last two matchups between the two.
The Seawolves won 67-66 in overtime on January 23 with redshirt-junior
Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) recording a double double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while
Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) had a 14-point outing, hitting both of this 3-point shots.
CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T SCORE
That is the mantra that the Stony Brook defense has abided by in conference play, holding all but one team under 40 percent shooting. Going back before the New Year, the Seawolves have held 12 of the team's last 13 opponents under that threshold. This has seen a rise in the defensive rankings for the Seawolves, as Stony Brook has climbed to ninth in the country in opponent's FG% with team's shooting 38.6 percent against Stony Brook.
KARDIAC KIDS
The Seawolves have been able to win the close ones this season en route to the team's winningest season under
Jeff Boals. After Saturday's two-point victory against New Hampshire, Stony Brook has now won six games by four points or less, going 7-1 in those contests. Stony Brook is 11-2 in games that they have been decided by seven points or less and have only had four games decided by 15 points or more this season, with three of those coming against Division I competition.
HOME COURT IS KEY
With a win and a UMass Lowell or Hartford loss, Stony Brook will clinch a home game in the 2019 America East playoffs. The Seawolves have hosted six home games since the format changed in the 2014-15 season, going 5-1 in home playoff games. Clinching home games has been key in the America East, as conference teams have gone 23-5 at home since the format changed.
BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore
Jeff Otchere (Bronx, N.Y.) is second in the country in Kenpom Block %, swatting 16.8 percent of team's 2-point attempts, according to KenPom. He is averaging 3.4 blocks per contest in league play, which is double the second-place inhabitant on the conference's leaderboard. Overall, the team is averaging just over five blocks per night.
FROM ABACO, WITH ACCURACY
Senior
Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) scored the first 30-point game for a Seawolves player since December 2017, making 11 of his 18 shots against UMass Lowell last Saturday. He made three of his six shots from 3-point territory and all five of his free throws en route to the landmark scoring night. His shooting extends back a game, as he's hit 17 of his 31 shots overall and eight of his 13 3-point shots in his last three outings.
(E)FFECTIVE (O)FFENSE
Sophomore
Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) has been shooting at over a 50-percent pace in the last 160 minutes of Seawolves basketball, making 26 of his 44 shots overall from the field, while making eight of his 18 attempts from outside the 3-point arc. The streak started with a 28-point outing against Hartford, a new career high, and has continued after he made all but one of his seven shots against UMass Lowell, leading to a 15-point night.
UP NEXT
The Seawolves play game two of a three-game homestand on Saturday night, playing host to Maine at 7 p.m. at Island Federal Arena. It will be Senior Night for the Seawolves, as the team will honor senior point guard
Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) before the game.
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