STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Elijah Olaniyi celebrated his 21st birthday in style.

Olaniyi fueled a second-half eruption and Makale Foreman posted a game-high 23 points as the Stony Brook men's basketball team defeated New Hampshire, 73-48, on Saturday night at Island Federal Arena.

Playing for the first time since winning on the homecourt of defending America East champion Vermont, the Seawolves experienced no letdown.

Stony Brook (12-6 overall) never trailed and now sits alone atop the conference standings at 3-0.

"I was as concerned as you could be," coach Geno Ford said about a potential post-Vermont malaise. "It's human nature. I think everybody, when you get told, 'Good job. Good job. Good job,' there's a level of that that's great because it builds confidence. And then there's a fine line where you can get too much of it and it becomes a little poisonous to the process. I think we, as a group, handled not only the win, but the travel very well. That was a long trip. It was six days."  

The Seawolves opened the game on a 9-0 run. And, with the Wildcats hanging around, Stony Brook turned a 31-23 lead at intermission into a rout by opening the second half with an 11-0 run.

Olaniyi scored the first nine points of the second half and finished with 22 points. He also had 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double.

"He threatened a triple-double tonight. Three more turnovers, he would have had it," Ford joked during the postgame press conference, which elicited a hearty laugh from Olaniyi.

The 6-foot-5 junior now sits at 974 career points, tantalizingly close to the 1,000-point milestone.

All but four of Olaniyi's points came in the second half against the Wildcats.

"I told the guys, 'I'm going to bring it this half,'" Olaniyi said. "It starts with me. I felt that trickled down to everybody."

Stony Brook, playing its first conference home game after wins at Maine and Vermont, extended its winning streak to five.

New Hampshire (8-8, 1-2 AE) went scoreless the opening 4 minutes, 15 seconds of the first half and the opening 3:54 of the second half.

Andrew Garcia set the tone for Stony Brook's game-opening run. He began the scoring with a three-pointer, then stole Marque Maultsby's midcourt pass and coasted in for a dunk.
 
Stony Brook returns to action Wednesday at Hartford, which has opened league play with consecutive victories.

"We've got a lot of guys clicking right now," Ford said.