PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Stony Brook University men's basketball team fell to Drexel, 90-86, on Thursday evening at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Despite having five scorers in double figures, the Seawolves came up just short in their final road test of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In an evenly matched first half, Stony Brook gained the first edge following a seven-point spurt that put the Seawolves ahead, 17-10. After a Drexel basket ended its scoreless drought, Dean Noll responded with a basket of his own the push the lead back to seven points.
Justin Moore scored seven of the Dragons' next nine points, helping Drexel narrow the deficit to two points. Stony Brook held off Drexel for the moment, padding its lead with back-to-back field goals from Keenan Fitzmorris.
Stony Brook carried a 35-30 advantage into the half and expanded the lead with a pair of powerful dunks from Chris Maidoh to start the second half. Maidoh's couple of slams and free throws pushed the lead back to seven points, 41-34.
Drexel turned the tides just five minutes into the second half, using a 15-0 run to turn its six-point deficit into a nine-point lead, an edge it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Stony Brook did much of its damage from the free throw line from that point on, but the Dragons always provided a response to keep the lead at a possession or more. The Seawolves trailed by as many as 10 points with 1:43 left on the clock, but battled back to make it a one-possession game on two occasions in the final 20 seconds.
Noll connected on a trifecta with three seconds to play, but Drexel's Luke House put the game on ice with a pair of makes from the stripe, helping the Dragons prevail, 90-86, despite the late push from the Seawolves.
STATS AND NOTES
- Noll led five scorers with double-digit points for Stony Brook, scoring a season-high 21 points. The 20-point effort was Noll's first as a Seawolf and his first since scoring a career-high 23 points against Columbia on Feb. 9, 2022 while at Cornell. Noll hit on three shots from beyond the arc and has now connected on multiple three pointers 12 times this season.
- Tyler Stephenson-Moore contributed 20 points and finished a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, a season-best mark. It was Stephenson-Moore's 10th time this season scoring 20 or more points in a game.
- Fitzmorris (15 points), Aaron Clarke (11 points) and Chris Maidoh (10 points) rounded out Stony Brook's double-digit scorers. Fitzmorris finished with a team-high six rebounds, Clarke contributed five boards and Maidoh was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe.
- Drexel scored 60 second-half points, shooting 64.3% (18-28) over the final 20 minutes of play.
- The Seawolves finished the contest 21-24 (87.5%) from the free throw line. It is the second straight game that Stony Brook sank at least 20 free throws as a unit.
- Stony Brook shot 7–for-16 from three-point range, with four of its five makes coming in the final minute of the game.
- The Dragons won the rebounding battle 34-29 and owned a 38-26 edge in points in the paint.
- Drexel improved to 8-0 at home in league play, winning its 12th consecutive overall on its home court.
- Following tonight's results around the CAA, Stony Brook sits in a tie for seventh place with Monmouth in the league standings.
- Thursday evening marked just the second meeting between Stony Brook and Drexel. The Seawolves moved to 1-1 against the Dragons.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Tremendous effort. Drexel is undefeated at home and they played at a really high level and we somehow gave ourselves a chance to win late," head coach Geno Ford said. "Our guys continue to show toughness and fight throughout the entire conference schedule. We need all the fans to come out Saturday to send our seniors out the right way."
AROUND THE CAA
UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns home to host Delaware in the regular-season finale on Saturday, March 2. The Seawolves and Blue Hens tip-off at 4:00 p.m. at Island Federal Arena, with the contest streaming live on SNY and FloHoops. Saturday also marks senior day for the Seawolves; Aaron Clarke, Chris Maidoh, Dean Noll and Tyler Stephenson-Moore will be honored prior to tip.
For an inside look at the Seawolves men's basketball program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
