STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Leading by as much as 18, the Stony Brook men's basketball team earned its fourth win in five tries on Saturday night, knocking off NEC foe Bryant 86-78 in front of 1,930 fans at Island Federal Arena.
Anthony Roberts led five Seawolves in double figures with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including hitting a trio of triples.
Tykei Greene was one off the Roberts team-high, sitting with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting. He finished with the same ratio at the free throw line.
After Bryant cut the lead to six with 8:57 left, the Seawolves rattled off a 16-4 run to build its largest lead at 18 with 3:41 to go in the half. The hosts made six of their eight shots during that span, including two of its three attempts from 3-point land and were able to force four Bryant turnovers.
In the second half, the Seawolves survived multiple attempts at a Bryant comeback, as the visitors brought the Stony Brook lead to three on multiple occasions but were never able to bring it even. Stony Brook used an 8-0 spurt over 88 seconds to extend its lead back to double digits at the midway mark of the half and held the distance the rest of the way.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook's 86 points are a new season high, one more than the 85 scored at Yale.
- The Seawolves also matched season bests in field goals made (31), assists (18) and steals (11).
- Roberts' 20-point output was his second game of 20 or more this season and fifth of his career.
- Greene finished with a season-high 19 points, besting his previous best of 13 against American.
- He also matched his season-best with three steals.
- Graduate guard Jahlil Jenkins had 13 points, all of of which came in the second half. It is his seventh game in double figures and fourth in a row. He now stands with 98 career contests scoring 10 or more.
- Redshirt-junior guard Juan Felix Rodriguez and graduate guard Omar Habwe each had a season high in scoring, with 11 and 10 points respectively.
- Juan now has 18 career games in double figures and Habwe has 23.
- The game marked the first time since their November 28th win over Yale that the Seawolves' had five players score double digits. The team has yet to lose this season when three or more players score 10 or more.
- The victory marks the Seawolves first ever win against the Bulldogs, with Bryant owning a 2-0 series lead entering tonight.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"It was a really tough ball game. Bryant plays super fast, they race it down your throat, they play really hard... it's a very good program. Jared has done a great job with those guys. They got a system and they were short handed and they just kept coming at us. Our prep wasn't great going into it with some of the same issues but give Bryant a bunch of credit with the guys they lost. They hung around the whole time and had a chance to steal the game. Great job for them and it was a great win for us. It was not easy and that was obvious." - head coach
Geno Ford
"Last year, it took a lot for us to come out and make our own noise so this year, having the fans, that builds us and makes us stronger. They're like a family to us, they support us and lift us up when we're down ... the close games are always the big ones for us because it shows us how tough and strong we are down the stretch." - redshirt junior guard
Tykei Greene.
"Every game is hard. Even when we have a lead, someone can cut it so we are showing we can be mentally tough and pull through these close, tough games and that's definitely a positive going forward ... No matter what type of play it was, it could be a dunk or a 3-pointer, they got the ball out fast and ran it back at us. Getting back in transition tonight was key for us because that was one thing that never stopped and I think we did a good job." - redshirt junior guard
Anthony Roberts.
UP NEXT
One more week of home games commences on Tuesday night, when the Seawolves host Central Connecticut State for a 6:31 p.m. tip at Island Federal Arena. Be sure to
get your tickets now as the Seawolves look to make it three wins in a row.
For an inside look at the Stony Brook men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
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