STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Stony Brook men's basketball team carried a lead into the halftime break against the Wagner Seahawks on Thursday night, but ultimately fell 58-55, at thr Spiro Sports Center Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
The Seawolves went back-and-forth for about 10 minutes in the first half until Stony Brook took its first lead of the game with 10:50 left to play in the first when graduate forward
Frankie Policelli converted a three off an assist from senior guard
Tyler Stephenson-Moore. Stephenson-Moore used a couple of spins and a fade away to create his own shot and fight through contact for a bucket and a foul. He completed the three-point play and the Seawolves started to control the rest of the first half.
The Jamaica, New York native gave his squad momentum with a prolific post move that led to a bucket. The turnaround jumper would give Stony Brook an eight point lead with 8:11 remaining in the first. The eight point lead would become the Seawolves' largest lead of the half. Stony Brook shot 47.6 percent from the floor in the first half and led 32-26 at the break.
Policelli caught fire in the first half, scoring 10 points in the frame on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Stephenson-Moore's co-captain helped extend the Seawolves' lead with about a minute left in the first half with a jumper off an assist from graduate center
Keenan Fitzmorris.
Policelli led Stony Brook with 11 rebounds and finished the night with 13 points on 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range. It marks the graduate student's fourth double-double of the year and his second in the last three games.
Wagner came out of the locker room and got off to a great start in the second half. Stony Brook was able to trade blows with the Seahawks and maintained its lead for most of the frame.
Fitzmorris blocked a Wagner shot on the defensive end, which led sophomore guard
Kaine Roberts to splash a three pointer on the offensive end. This sequence gave the Seawolves a five-point lead with 17 minutes left.
The Seawolves led Wagner, 54-53, with 1:27 remaining but the Seahawks grabbed the lead and never relinquished. Stony Brook fell to 3-8 overall on the year.
STATS AND NOTES
- The game consisted of 14 lead changes and seven ties.
- Stony Brook led for 21:23 of the game.
- Stony Brook outrebounded Wagner, 36-28. The Seawolves continue to lead the CAA in defensive rebounds per game, pulling down 28 on Thursday night.
- The Seawolves dominated Wagner at the free-throw line. Stony Brook shot 24-of-30, while Wagner made all nine of its attempts. The Seawolves set a new season high in both free throws made (previous was 19 twice) and free throws attempted (previous high was 23 twice).
- Stephenson-Moore scored in double figures for the sixth-straight game. It was his seventh time pacing the Seawolves in scoring in a game this season.
- Stephenson-Moore made nine free throws, tying his career high and he set a new career high with 11 free throw attempts.
- Policelli scored in double figures for the third-straight game. It was his fifth game this season with 10+ rebounds.
- Fitzmorris reached double figures with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists. Seven of his points came from the free-throw line.
- Fitzmorris totaled a career-high three blocks.
- Roberts scored a career-high nine points, six of which came from the free-throw line. He had previously gone 4-of-5 from the free-throw line in his entire career. On Thursday, he shot 6-of-6 from the line.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"We really competed hard," said head coach
Geno Ford. "I am super proud of the effort that we gave. We went on the road and had plenty of chances to win the game in the last four minutes. We had nine turnovers in the second half and that's why we came up short. It's hard to play the amount of minutes that our perimeter guys are playing, but we made some progress in many areas."
NEXT UP
Stony Brook will return home for another New York battle, as it takes on Army West Point on Sunday, December 18. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on SNY and FloHoops. It will be the eighth matchup all-time between the Seawolves and Army.
For an inside look at the Seawolves men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram.
