STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Coming out of the second half, Hofstra scored seven of the first nine points to extend the lead to 42-34 and the visitors were ready to seize control.
It was the host Seawolves, however, who did.
Geno Ford's club went on a 27-6 run, making six of its seven three pointers in a stretch that saw an eight-point deficit turn into a double-digit advantage that they would not relinquish en route to a 79-62 win over its Long Island rivals in the 30th Battle of Long Island on Wednesday night at Island Federal Arena.
The Pride brought the lead as large as seven at 28-21 with 8:54 left in the period, but Stony Brook ended the half with a 12-7 stretch to cut the deficit to three at 35-32 heading into the halftime break.
After Hofstra made its spurt, the Seawolves made their mark. Stony Brook made seven of its next eight attempts from three, ballooning the lead to fourteen at 64-50 with 7:48 to go as
Frankie Policelli banked one in to extend the advantage.
Stony Brook poured in 47 in the second half, making nine of its 15 attempts from three and holding Hofstra to 2-for-13 from deep.
STATS AND NOTES
- The game marks the first time the Seawolves have overcome a first half deficit for a win this season.
- 47 points in the second stanza marked a new season best, four better than its 43 against Yale.
- Graduate guard Jahlil Jenkins led the way offensively with a season-high 24 points, four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes. He matched his previous season-high 19 points with 11 minutes left in the game.
- Redshirt-sophomore guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore recorded his first career double-double, scoring 14 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. The 12 boards are a new career high and his four 3-pointers matched a career best.
- Tykei Greene's 11 rebounds is his second performance in double figures this season, joining his 14 boards against Sacred Heart.
- As a team, Stony Brook set a season-high with 54 rebounds, 13 more than its previous best.
- In the last 11 years, only last season's NJIT matchup on Jan. 24, 2021 (55) saw more rebounds for Stony Brook.
- Frankie Policelli tied his career-high with a quartet of triples, not missing on a 4-for-4 day. He also tied his season-high rebounds with six.
- The Seawolves' defense held Hofstra to season lows in points (62), field goal percentage (.391), 3-point percentage (.192), assists (12) and rebound margin (-21).
- The Seawolves earned their first win over Hofstra since the 2015-16 season and the 17-point win is the largest margin over Hofstra in series history.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Super proud of our team. I thought that we tried to get their attention off of Saturday. Every coach in the world tries that, but the players have to want to embrace and accept our challenge. I give our guys a ton of credit. The rebounding is the most exciting thing. The 3-point makes are the sexy part of the game and we did a lot of that, but we won the game with the rebounding margin. I thought we played really hard and it was fun to watch." - head coach
Geno Ford
"We're a pretty small team in terms of size but we definitely have a lot of athleticism so tonight proved we could really play well on the boards. Being able to beat them the way we beat them today feels great. We were able to be confident and get stops and then on the other end, I trust my teammates to be able to make the right plays, which they did and that helped us score." - redshirt-sophomore guard
Tyler Stephenson-Moore.
"All week we've been talking about toughness. Wagner came in and beat us and we really needed to take pride in our defense today. I feel like today was a great step for us. I was able to get to my spot and be aggressive and that helped me make plays. Coach wanted us to come out in the second half and keep being aggressive and we did that." - graduate guard
Jahlil Jenkins.
UP NEXT
The homestand continues on Saturday as the Seawolves host NEC finalist Bryant for a 6:31 p.m. tip at Island Federal Arena.
Get your tickets now and don't miss a minute of the action!
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