STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook men's basketball team (8-17, 4-8 CAA) was down by as many as 11 points in the second half against the Monmouth Hawks (5-20, 4-8 CAA) on Wednesday night and despite a late comeback, the Seawolves fell, 61-54, at Island Federal Arena.
Senior guard
Tyler Stephenson-Moore shined in his return to the court for the first time since suffering an injury at William & Mary on January 26. He came off the bench on Wednesday, after missing three-straight games, and scored 17 points in his return.
The Jamaica, New York, native shot 6-of-14 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Stephenson-Moore hauled in three rebounds and recorded one assist, while totaling 34 minutes played.
After playing a back-and-forth first half, the Seawolves trailed 27-26 at the break. About halfway through the second half, Stony Brook had its largest deficit at 45-34.
Despite trailing by 11 points, the Seawolves fought all the way back. After back-to-back buckets from graduate forward
Frankie Policelli and Stephenson-Moore and then a short run from Monmouth, Stony Brook began its comeback.
With 4:18 left to play in the second half, Stephenson-Moore nailed a second-chance pullup jump shot and on the following possession he drilled a three pointer to cut the deficit to 49-45. On the ensuing play, Policelli came up with a steal and drove all the way to the basket for a deuce to bring the Seawolves within two points.
Monmouth was able to hold on and come out victorious, despite two late three pointers from sophomore guard
Kaine Roberts, which made it a two-point game with about one minute left.
The Seawolves and Hawks split the season series, with the road team winning each matchup.
STATS AND NOTES
- Policelli finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds, shooting 3-of-6 from three-point range.
- Graduate center Keenan Fitzmorris led the team with seven rebounds.
- Freshman forward Leon Nahar tallied a career-high 17 minutes played in the loss. He also totaled the first two steals of his career. Nahar added six points, two rebounds, and one assist, as well.
- Roberts totaled two three pointers made on the night, marking the second time this season that he hit multiple threes in a game.
- Stony Brook's defense held Monmouth without a three pointer made in the game, as the Hawks shot 0-for-9 from deep. It marked the first time that Stony Brook held an opponent without a three point field goal made since February 6, 2017 at UMass Lowell (0-for-10).
- Stony Brook outrebounded Monmouth, 38-33.
- Stony Brook totaled eight assists, while the Hawks tallied six.
- The game featured 10 lead changes and five ties.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
NEXT UP
Stony Brook will remain home to face the North Carolina A&T Aggies for the second time this season, on Saturday, Feb. 11. Tip- off is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on FloHoops.
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