DURHAM, N.H. — The Stony Brook men's basketball team stormed back on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, they dug too big a hole and ultimately stumbled.

New Hampshire raced to a large early lead and defeated visiting Stony Brook, 81-64.

"Give New Hampshire credit," head coach Geno Ford said. "They were the more physical team and were able to dictate what they wanted to do."

The Seawolves missed their first 15 field goal attempts and were scoreless for the game's opening 8 minutes, 18 seconds.

As a result, Stony Brook found itself trailing 30-8 late in the first half.

However, the Seawolves awoke, chiseling the deficit to nine points — 57-48 — on Makale Foreman's three-pointer from the right corner with 7:15 remaining in the game.

The comeback bid stalled there.

"We had a really tough day offensively," Ford added. "We could not score. Give them credit."

America East leading scorer Elijah Olaniyi had picked up his third foul with 5:24 remaining in the first half, forcing Ford to pull him for the remainder of the period. Olaniyi subsequently departed early in the second half with an apparent injury and was limited to 12 minutes for the game.

Olaniyi, who entered the game averaging 19.7 ppg, was scoreless for the first time since Dec. 30, 2017, against Norfolk State as a freshman.

Freshman Tyler Stephenson-Moore contributed a career-high 19 points and came up one rebound shy of his first double-double in the defeat. Andrew Garcia followed with 17 points, while Makale Foreman had 16.

Stony Brook had defeated New Hampshire 73-48 at Island Federal Arena on Jan. 11.

The Seawolves (16-9, 7-3 America East) return to action Wednesday at Binghamton.