NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Stony
Brook men's basketball team came out red-hot of the Thanksgiving break, racing out to a 34-12 lead in the first half before holding off a lurking Yale team that is projected to win the Ivy League for the third consecutive year.
The end result? An 85-81 wire-to-wire victory that put the Seawolves in the win column ahead of its six-game homestand that begins Wednesday evening.
Redshirt-sophomore
Frankie Policelli led the way with a career-high 22 points, making seven of his 14 shots including four of 10 from beyond the arc. He also added five rebounds, five assists and a block to aid the Seawolves attack.
Anthony Roberts recovered from a slow start that saw him miss four of his first five shots. He finished the day with 19 points, his third consecutive game scoring double figures.
Tykei Greene (11),
Juan Felix Rodriguez (10) and
Tyler Stephenson-Moore (10) all joined Roberts and Policelli in double figures and helped Stony Brook to a 53.7 percent shooting clip from the field.
Stony Brook saw its lead dwindle as close as five with as much as nine minutes remaining, but the visitors would respond each time. A 6-2 spurt would broaden the Seawolves lead to 67-58 with 6:53 remaining in the period and each time the Bulldogs would bring it within five after that, Stony Brook would respond with a pair of free throws.
With the win, the Seawolves improve to 2-3 and earn an impressive road victory for its resume. They will now head home for six straight at home and seven at Island Federal Arena in the month of December.
STATS AND NOTES
- Policelli had reached his previous career best of 16 points four times, the latest on December 27, 2020 against UMass Lowell. The four triples are also tied for his career best, with the latest quartet of three's coming against Hartford on January 31, 2021.
- Frankie's five assists are also a new career high, besting his four against Detroit Mercy on December 4, 2018. His five boards are tied for his season best.
- Roberts' 19 are his second-highest output of the season, following up his 30 against Fairfield on November 24. He has scored in double figures in four of his five Stony Brook contests.
- Dishing five assists set a new career high, while Anthony's six boards are tied for a season best and one off his career best.
- His 8-for-10 from the charity stripe is a career high in both makes and attempts.
- Greene finished the day with four assists, a new collegiate best.
- Stony Brook's 18 assists as a team are the most on the year.
- The 85 points are the most as a team since the squad scored that exact number on February 6, 2019.
- Geno Ford's club hit 11 triples on the night, led by Policelli's four. It is the first time they hit double figure 3-pointers since March 7, 2020 in the America East Quarterfinals against UAlbany.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"That's a great win for us. That team will win the Ivy League. Everyone stepped up and it was needed with some key guys out. It's really hard to single out any one player because everybody was part of this win but I did feel like Alex [Christie] gave us some extra presence in the lane. He had a really good preseason and it was really nice to seem him play well and help the team as much as he did." - head coach
Geno Ford
"I just feel more comfortable right now and I'm getting used to how other people play. We've really emphasized ball movement in our offense and that's helped me get open and really get comfortable. My coaches tell me to keep shooting and I'm starting to feel more comfortable and confident outside and that's shown the last couple games" - redshirt sophomore guard
Frankie Policelli.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook hosts the first of six in a row at Island Federal Arena on Wednesday night, playing American at 6:31 p.m.
Get your tickets now and don't miss a minute of the action!
For an inside look at the Stony Brook men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
