WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Stony Brook men's basketball team went on a 17-5 run over a span of 5:59 in the second half and were able to clinch the No. 2 seed in the 2019 America East Men's Basketball Playoffs with a 68-63 win over Hartford on Tuesday night.
 
Senior Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) led the Seawolves with 16 points on the night, while redshirt-junior Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) finished with 12 points and sophomore Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) finished with 11.
 
BOALS REACTION
"I thought the first half we were a little lethargic. We weren't moving the basketball like we were supposed to. To win the game, we had to ramp the pressure up and we did. We drove inside a lot more and were able to get it going offensively. Multiple guys stepped up tonight. Jules Moor and Corry Long stepped up big for us, Jordan McKenzie hit a big shot … we had a lot of guys help us tonight."

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Seawolves started hot, making their first six shots from the field to get out to a 12-8 advantage in the first 4:23.
• Hartford hit four of its next six shots to go on a 9-0 run and take a five-point advantage at 17-12.
• After Stony Brook re-took the lead at 20-19, the Hawks rattled off another run of the 10-2 variety to enlarge the advantage to the biggest of the night, 29-22.
• Neither team had a lead larger than four in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Cornish came out with five quick points and Olaniyi hit back to back threes to make it 40-39 with 16:52 left in the period.
• Freshman Jules Moor (Houston, Texas) hit a jumper with 8:24 to go in the half, putting the Seawolves up 54-52 after Hartford had a lead for most of the second half.
• Stony Brook would not trail the rest of the game, as a Cornish 3-pointer with 3:58 ended the 17-5 run and made it 65-55 Seawolves.

NOTES

• Stony Brook is a top two seed for the second time in three seasons under Jeff Boals.
• This is the eighth time this season that the Seawolves have secured a win by five points or lress. They are 8-2 in games decided by that much.
• After going 28-for-56 tonight, the Seawolves have eclipsed the 50 percent mark from the field for the third time in the last four games.
• Hartford shot 6-for-26 from long range tonight, improving Stony Brook's defensive 3-point percentage to 27.5 percent in conference play this season, a league best.
• Cornish is in double figures for the eighth time in league play this season and the sixth time in his last eight outings.
• Sophomore Corry Long (Cincinnati, Ohio) played a career-high 26 minutes, chipping in four points. His three assists are also a career-high.
• Yeboah reached double figures for the seventh consecutive contest and the 15^th time in 16 America East games.
• The Seawolves' 13^th road victory is the most in the country and matches the program's Division I record for road wins set in the 2012-13 season.

UP NEXT
The chase for the America East Championship begins on Saturday night, when the second-seeded Seawolves take on the No. 7 seed Binghamton at 7 p.m. at Island Federal Arena. Tickets are still available, but are going fast. Click here to get yours or call 631-632-WOLF.

The game will also be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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