BURLINGTON, Vt. — Coach Geno Ford took the Stony Brook men's basketball team to Seton Hall, Virginia and Providence during the nonconference portion of the schedule to prep his squad for Wednesday night's game at Patrick Gymnasium.

The battle readiness forged against those Power Five opponents paid big-time dividends.

In a matchup of the America East's two winningest teams over the past nine years, Stony Brook earned an 81-77 victory against defending-champion Vermont — serving early notice it has intentions of claiming the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Elijah Olaniyi scored the tiebreaking basket with 26.0 seconds remaining on a driving layup in the paint. Vermont's Anthony Lamb then missed the second of two free throws with 19.2 seconds to go that could have tied it.

"Those are the moments you live for," Olaniyi said. "It's funny because I saw Kyrie do it while watching a highlight. I tried to spin through and float it and I ended up close to the rim so it was a a layup."

Olaniyi was fouled while collecting the rebound and hit one free throw for a 79-77 lead. Vermont had a chance at the other end, but came up short on a pair of field-goal attempts. Miles Latimer then iced the game at the free throw-line at the other end with less than a second remaining.

Vermont (10-6, 0-1 AE) had won the last seven meetings between the teams.

Olaniyi finished with a team-high 28 points. He also had 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and third of his career.

"It feels good because I feel like we earned a little bit of respect," Olaniyi said. "Before, nobody really thought we could do it. We came in here and showed we could win on their court. Hopefully we can take care of business when we see them later in the season."

Makale Foreman followed with 23 points.

"In the second half, both teams traded big play after big play," Ford said. "I'm glad we won but we also played at a high level and they played at a high level also.

"The three leading scorers had big ballgames and delivered in big time moments," Ford added, referring to Olaniyi, Foreman and Andrew Garcia. "It's coach-speak to a degree, but it was a total team victory."

Stony Brook (11-6, 2-0 AE) had trailed by six points late in the second half, but Garcia's three-pointer with 2:11 remaining pulled the Seawolves even at 74. Olaniyi then provided a two-point lead with a pair of free throws with 1:39 to go. Vermont evened the score at 76 with 40.4 seconds to go on a pair of free throws from Stef Smith.

"It felt like a playoff game in January," Ford said.