BOSTON, Mass. – The Stony Brook men's basketball team (5-9, 1-0 CAA) won its first-ever conference game as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday afternoon, with a 65-61 win over the Northeastern Huskies (5-8, 1-1 CAA) at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern started the game off strong and got out to an 8-2 lead just over two minutes into the first half. Moments later, graduate forward
Frankie Policelli used a couple of jab steps to create separation between him and his defender before he drilled a pull-up jump shot to tie the game at 11-11.
Just over one minute later, Policelli inbounded the ball to senior guard
Tyler Stephenson-Moore before he leaked out into the corner to receive the ball back from Stephenson-Moore, which led to a three pointer from Policelli. The three point make gave the Seawolves a 14-11 lead and it helped Stony Brook begin to control the game.
With under three minutes left in the first half, Stephenson-Moore drained a dribble pull-up three pointer, which gave Stony Brook its largest lead of the game at the time at eight points, 28-20.
On the ensuing offensive possession, junior guard
Tanahj Pettway nailed a three pointer to give Stony Brook an 11-point lead. Pettway had a career-best performance with a career-high 15 points, along with four rebounds and an assist in 24 minutes played.
Stony Brook was in control for most of the game and since it trailed 8-2 to start the game, it outscored the Huskies 33-16 to close out the first half and begin the second half.
With 13:38 remaining in the game, Policelli got the ball inside the arc off a turnover from Northeastern's freshman guard Rashad King and used a dribble pull up move to hit a mid-range jump shot, giving the Seawolves their largest lead of the game at 42-29. Policelli hit several big shots in the game.
After Stony Brook led by 13 points, Northeastern cut the deficit back to two points as it went on a 14-3 run and trailed 45-43. The Seawolves turned to Pettway, who was having a career-day, and the guard drove to the basket and finished a much-needed layup to stop the run.
Later on in the second half, Northeastern's Coleman Stucke made a three pointer with 1:57 left in the game, which cut the Huskies' deficit to 54-52. But, despite several punches from Northeastern in the second half, Stony Brook never relinquished the lead.
With less than a minute to go in the game, leading 55-52, Stephenson-Moore hit the biggest shot of the season thus far for the Seawolves. The senior took matters into his own hands and nailed a deep step-back three pointer to extend the Stony Brook lead to six points.
Northeastern made things interesting down the stretch, cutting its deficit to three points with four seconds remaining, but Stony Brook successfully inbounded the ball and Policelli made a free throw to hold on and win the game.
It was Stony Brook's first-ever conference game and victory as members of the CAA and it was the Seawolves first road win of the year.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook had four scorers reach double figures. Policelli (17 points), graduate center Keenan Fitzmorris (16), Pettway (15) and Stephenson-Moore (14) combined for 62 of Stony Brook's 65 points.
- Fitzmorris set a new career-high in points with 16. He shot 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Fitzmorris pulled down four rebounds.
- Policelli led the way with 17 points (5-of-10 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line). The graduate also grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes played. It was his eighth time leading the team in rebounding this season and fourth time leading the team in scoring.
- Stephenson-Moore dished out a career-high six assists and pulled in four rebounds to go along with his 14-point outing. He played all 40 minutes for the third-straight game and fifth time overall this season.
- Stony Brook had 30 defensive rebounds in the game, while Northeastern grabbed 27 defensive boards.
- The Seawolves led for 30:36 of game time on Saturday.
- Stony Brook led by as many as 13 points and trailed by as few as six points.
- Of the four first-year members of the CAA –– Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Stony Brook –– the Seawolves were the only team to win their CAA opener.
- Stony Brook tied the all-time series with Northeastern, 7-7. The Seawolves and Huskies will face off again on January 19 at Island Federal Arena.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Heck of a road win for us to open our first CAA season. I thought several guys stepped up and played well. We shared the ball and got four guys in double figures. We need to continue to work to get better because all of these games, home or away, will be hard. Happy New Year to all of our donors and supporters!" - Head coach
Geno Ford
NEXT UP
Stony Brook will finish its three-game road trip at Monmouth on Thursday, Jan. 5. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on FloHoops. It will be the first matchup between the Seawolves and Monmouth since 2010.
For an inside look at the Seawolves men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on
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