STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Stony Brook men's basketball earned its first league victory with an 89-74 triumph over North Carolina A&T on Saturday afternoon on Long Island. CJ Luster II (31) and Andre Snoddy (22) tallied career-high marks in points to cap off the seventh annual Children's Hospital Game with a win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening 15 minutes of action were a back-and-forth affair, with the lead trading hands five times. Neither team led by more than four points during that span.
• Stony Brook used a 9-2 run that featured baskets from Collin O'Connor, Luster and Ben Wight to build a 37-29 advantage with three minutes remaining in the half.
• The Seawolves constructed an 11-point lead, the largest of the afternoon. Stony Brook a 46-35 advantage into the intermission.
• After a Snoddy basket to open the half made it a 13-point game, N.C. A&T fought back to whittle its deficit to four points, 55-51, with 13 minutes to play in regulation.
• Luster ripped off six straight points to push the advantage back to double figures before the Aggies again trimmed their deficit to five points with 8:28 to play.
• Stony Brook answered with eight straight points, holding N.C. A&T without a made field goal for more than four minutes to take complete control of the contest.
• The Seawolves stretched their lead to 15 points, maintaining a double-digit cushion in the scoring column and capping off an emotional day with their first CAA victory of the season.

• Stony Brook shot 31-of-59 (52.5%) from the field, its highest shooting percentage of the season.
• The Seawolves dished out 17 assists in the victory, the second-best mark in a game this season.
• Stony Brook's 46 first-half points are a program best as a CAA member.
• The 89 points scored was the second-highest output of the season.
• Snoody tallied his fourth double-double as a Seawolf and his third of the season. He scored a career-high 22 points and matched a season-best mark with 13 rebounds.
• Luster poured in a team-high and career-best 31 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-7 from three) and finished a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Luster's 31 points were the most by any Seawolf since the 2022-23 season.
• O'Connor dished out a season-high six assists and scored 15 points in the victory, one shy of matching his career best.
• Sabry Philip made his second start of the season, tallying three rebounds, two points and two assists.
• Wight grabbed seven rebounds and scored 12 points across 31 minutes of action.
• Stony Brook improved to 4-1 all-time against North Carolina A&T and has won four consecutive over the Aggies.

QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"First and foremost I want to thank the Children's Hospital for organizing another great event. To be able to meet families who are going through a real courageous battle with their children keeps things in perspective. I know the players and our coaching staff wanted more than anything to try to provide a few hours of quality entertainment. We continue to pray for all the families," head coach Geno Ford said postgame. "I'm happy for the players; we needed to win, and to be able to do it as shorthanded as we were, makes it even better."

UP NEXT
Stony Brook heads south to face Charleston in a rematch of the 2024 CAA Championship. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 pm from TD Arena, with the contest streaming on FloCollege.

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