STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Stony Brook men's basketball battled with Northeastern, ultimately falling 70-66, on Saturday evening at Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves erased a 14-point, first-half deficit, but faltered down the stretch and allowed the Huskies to escape with the four-point victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Northeastern started fast, scoring the first eight points of the evening and building an early 10-3 lead.
- CJ Luster II started scorching hot to allow Stony Brook to hang around in the early going, connecting on a pair of threes to get the Seawolves on the board.
- The Huskies built their lead back to seven points at the 12:10 mark, but the Seawolves fought back to make it a one-possession game on multiple occasions.
- Northeastern used a 16-4 run to construct a 14-point lead, the largest gap between the two teams in the first half. The run spanned more than four minutes. The Huskies carried a 13-point advantage into the intermission.
- Stony Brook narrowed the deficit to single digits on a Joe Octave jumper early in the second half, but Northeastern responded with a three on the ensuing possession to push the Seawolves' deficit back to double figures.
- Another Seawolves spurt offensively made it an eight-point game with more than 14 minutes remaining. Nick Woodard buried a triple to bookend a 7-0 Stony Brook run, bringing the Seawolves within five points of the Huskies.
- Stony Brook tied the contest at 50 on a Woodard basket inside with 8:07 to play, evening the score for the first time since the opening tip.
- The Seawolves grabbed their first lead of the evening, 52-50, on a basket inside by Woodard out of the under-eight timeout.
- Stony Brook's lead grew to five points on a steal-and-score by Collin O'Connor, leading to a Northeastern timeout. Defensively, the Seawolves forced five Huskies' turnovers and held Northeastern without a point for more than four minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage with 5:31 to play.
- JB Frankel ended Northeastern's scoring drought with a trifecta on a second-chance effort, but O'Connor answered on the other end to make it a two-possession contest once more.
- Back-to-back Northeastern baskets followed, tying the game at 57-57 and forcing Stony Brook to use its first timeout of the second half. The Huskies regained the lead, 59-57, with two minutes remaining after Masai Troutman was fouled on a three-point attempt and made two of three.
- Northeastern scored 11 straight points, holding Stony Brook scoreless for more than four minutes to erase the deficit and take a 64-57 lead with less than a minute to play.
- Leon Nahar and Woodard connected on three-pointers, with Woodard's pulling the Seawolves within three points of Northeastern with 16 seconds left. Andre Snoddy buried a triple after a pair of Huskies' free throws, making it a one-possession game again, but Troutman made his 13th and 14th free throws of the contest to make it a four-point game with 2.6 seconds left.
- Northeastern ultimately erased the late deficit and completed the comeback, taking down Stony Brook 70-66.
STATS AND NOTES
- Luster paved the way offensively for Stony Brook, tallying a game-high 22 points. He scored 17 in the first half and accounted for half of Stony Brook's three-point field goals in the game. Luster has scored 20-plus points in three straight games and six times this season.
- Woodard scored a career-high 16 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-4 from downtown. He added a team-high six rebounds.
- O'Connor finished with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Snoddy chipped in with eight points as well, grabbing five boards and dishing out three assists.
- Northeastern's Masai Troutman matched Luster's effort, scoring 22 points. He converted on 14-of-15 from the free throw line, surpassing his previous career high in scoring.
- As a team, Northeastern shot 19-for-21 from the charity stripe. The Huskies closed the game by making 12-of-14 at the line over the final two minutes of play.
- The Huskies ended the game on a 17-9 run over the final 5:02 to erase a four-point deficit and complete the comeback victory.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"We really competed hard tonight. The crowd was awesome. We were up five points with five minutes to go and just couldn't make a big play down the stretch," head coach Geno Ford said. "We took some steps forward in some areas and just have to keep working at it."
UP NEXT
Stony Brook hits the road to face Delaware on Thursday, January 16. The Seawolves and Blue Hens tip-off at 6:30 pm from the Bob Carpenter Center, with the contest streaming on FloCollege.
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