SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Stony Brook men's basketball trailed by as little as two points in the second half of Friday night's game, but ultimately fell to the Bryant Bulldogs, 79-60, at the Chace Athletic Center.
The Seawolves were led by a career-best performance from graduate forward
Frankie Policelli. The New Hartford, New York, native tallied 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to collect his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career. Policelli also dished out a career-high six assists.
In a contest that was primarily fought behind the arc, Stony Brook was able to keep up with Bryant's hot three-point shooting in the first half. The Seawolves went on an 8-0 run starting with a jumper made by senior guard
Tyler Stephenson-Moore. Graduate guard
Aaron Clarke and Policelli kept the momentum rolling for Stony Brook with back-to-back three-pointers to decrease the 11-point deficit to just three with 3:10 left to play in the first.
However, the Bulldogs answered back with back-to-back threes of their own courtesy of senior guards Charles Pride and Miles Latimer which brought Bryant's lead to 35-26. Stephenson-Moore was able to convert the final three of the half off an assist from Clarke with 1:24 on the clock to bring the game within six going into halftime.
With 13:45 remaining in the game, Stephenson-Moore splashed a turnaround jumper to cut the Seawolves' deficit to 45-43. Bryant senior guard Sherif Gross-Bullock answered with a three-point shot just 20 seconds later, and the Bulldogs never looked back.
Stephenson-Moore paced the Seawolves in scoring, totaling 21 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. He also pulled down four rebounds.
Stephenson-Moore had one of his most efficient shooting clips of the season, going 52.6 percent from the floor. He has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
STATS AND NOTES
- Policelli tallied 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to collect his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career. He also dished out a career-high six assists.
- Junior forward Kenan Sarvan came up just short of a double-double. He poured in eight points and six rebounds.
- Stephenson-Moore drained his 20th three-point make of the season. He has totaled at least one three-point make in every game this season.
- It was Stephenson-Moore's fifth time pacing the Seawolves in scoring this season.
- It was Policelli's sixth time pacing the Seawolves in rebounding this season.
- Stony Brook had four players combine to make 10 three-pointers. Policelli tied his career-high with six, Clarke made two and Stephenson-Moore and Sarvan each made one.
- Stony Brook outrebounded Bryant, 37-35. The Seawolves totaled 28 defensive boards and nine offensive rebounds.
- Stony Brook paced the Bulldogs in assists, 18-17.
- The Seawolves scored 24 points in the paint, while Bryant scored 20.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Give Bryant credit they played at a really high level. They made 17 threes, shooting nearly 50%. We were down two with 13 minutes to go and we ran out of gas in the middle of the second half, which has been a problem for us in every road loss. Tyler and Frankie both had great ball games," said head coach
Geno Ford.
NEXT UP
Stony Brook will return home to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Monday, Dec. 12. Tip-off is set for 6:31 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on SNY and FloHoops. It will be the 23
rd matchup all-time between the Seawolves and Sacred Heart.
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