TOWSON, Md. - The Stony Brook University men's basketball team fell in overtime to Towson, 73-64, on Thursday evening at TU Arena. Dean Noll scored 15 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the floor to pace the offense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Seawolves started hot, jumping out to an early 14-8 lead. Towson answered with 13 straight points to turn its six point deficit into a seven point advantage. Andre Snoddy buried a triple to end Stony Brook's drought.
Stony Brook pulled within a possession of Towson on three separate occasions over the final seven-plus minutes of the half, but never regained the lead. Chris Maidoh ended the half with a big follow up off a missed shot, slamming home a big putback dunk and sending the Seawolves to the half trailing, 33-28.
After a 20-plus minute delay due to a shot clock issue in the arena, play resumed with a Keenan Fitzmorris hook shot to make it a one-possession game once again. The time off didn't hurt Stony Brook offensively, who used a 7-0 run bookended by an Aaron Clarke trifecta to regain the lead, 48-47. The Seawolves had trailed for more than 20 minutes of game action before Clarke's triple with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
After a Jared Frey jumper made it 51-50, the Tigers took the lead back and held onto it until the final minute of regulation. The Seawolves trailed for six minutes and change down the stretch, but held Towson without a point over the final three minutes and scored the final six points to force overtime. Dean Noll came up with a huge steal and scored in transition before an empty Towson possession sent the game to an extra period in Maryland.
The two sides traded two baskets each to open overtime; Maidoh would head to the free throw line with a chance to put the Seawolves in front, but missed a pair. On the ensuing possession, Tyler Tejada buried a three from the wing to give Towson the advantage for the third time in the extra period. The Tigers would score the final nine points of the extra period to hand Stony Brook a second consecutive loss.
STATS AND NOTES
- Noll finished 7-of-12 from the field, scoring 15 points. He added four rebounds and two steals.
- Clarke was the only other Seawolf to reach double-digit points, finishing with 11 points.
- Maidoh scored eight points and registered team-highs in rebounds (9) and steals (3), contributing a blocked shot as well.
- Tyler Stephenson-Moore finished with nine points, just the third time in 14 games this season the graduate student has not scored in double figures.
- Fitzmorris' scored six points and grabbed five rebounds. He had previously registered double-digit points in eight straight games and 10 of his last 11 contests.
- All nine Seawolves that checked into the contest scored.
- The overtime contest was Stony Brook's second of the season, both coming away from home. The Seawolves defeated Army in overtime earlier this season.
- As a unit, Stony Brook shot just 6-of-12 from the charity stripe, including a 2-for-9 mark in the second half and overtime.
- Towson connected on 10 three pointers, the ninth time an opponent has made double-digit threes this season.
- Stony Brook falls to 0-3 all-time against Towson. This evening's contest was the only scheduled regular season meeting between the two programs for the 2023-24 season.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"We really battled and gave ourselves a chance to win the game. It was a back-and-forth game all night and we dug in and got two huge stops to force overtime," head coach
Geno Ford said postgame. "Dean played well, but we didn't have anyone else get in an offensive flow. Every game will be a dogfight; every team that we play right now is good. We just have to stick with it and make 1-2 more plays to flip the result."
UP NEXT
Stony Brook heads further south to continue its three-game road trip, facing William & Mary on Saturday, January 13. Tip-off between the Seawolves and Tribe is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Kaplan Arena with the contest streaming live on FloHoops.
For an inside look at the Seawolves men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram.
